Red Moon and Black Ice
by windstruck07
Summary: On Jack's first anniversary as guardian, a blizzard of black snow covers Burgess and the moon turns red. North suspects something wrong with the moon and Pitch is possibly back. The guardians turn to Father time and is led to a place called Arendelle, where a mysterious royal beauty sings to her sister about her ideal man. Full summary inside 1st Fanfic, Jelsa,
1. Prologue: A Bloody Anniversary

_Hello people of FF! I am basically a newbie here who happened to write her first fan fiction ever! This is actually to test my skills and passion for writing and to express my fluffy love for the Team Jelsa! (I've only been a Jelsa shipper since last Friday, isn't that swell?) Anyway, I hope you like this fan fiction, and I'm not expecting a wide readership since it's my first try at doing this. But anyhow, please do enjoy!_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own characters of Rise of the Guardians nor Frozen. They belong to DreamWorks and Disney. But if I did own them, then this would never have been called a fan fiction.**_

_**Summary**_

_**It's been a year since the Guardians' last encounter against Pitch Black. Jack is commended for his exemplary job on his first year in bringing frosty fun to the children of the world. But then when the winter season comes, the moon turns red and a horrible blizzard of black snow threatens to cover Burgess. Cold and fear ensues, and Jack Frost suspects that it is the work of the boogey man yet again. With the Man on the Moon rumored to be in danger, the guardians look to Father Time to trace the whereabouts and when-abouts of the snow chaos. That's when Jack Frost and the gang land themselves back in time, in the castle of Arendelle, where a queen dressed in ice sings to her sister about her ideal man. (Jelsa, of course.) First fic ever!**_

**Prologue: A Bloody Anniversary**

My name is Jack Frost, and I am a guardian.

It's been a year since I took my oath, and believe me; things were pretty cool now that I'm having more people believe in me since Jamie. A day from now would mark my first anniversary as one of the guardians of childhood, and according to jolly old North, we'd be celebrating back at his place. Though I've been here to the North Pole many times, the place never ceases to amaze me. Every year, millions of toys are put together by yetis (contrary to popular belief that elves do the work) to bring to every child on Christmas. I still remember the times when I tried breaking in to this place… ah, those good old days with Phil!

Having new friends took a little time getting used to, and one of the perks of being a new guardian is that you get to meet more than the Tooth Fairy, the Easter Bunny or the Sandman. Based on Sandy's… uhm, sand pictures, we'd be having guardians from the different departments. Apparently we weren't the only guardians out there after all.

"I still dunno how Manny does it." North told me. "'' Tis pretty excitin' since fellas like Cupid would be coming to meet you!"

I raised my brows. Huh, so there was a guardian for Valentines' Day too. "You don't say."

"Mother Nature is coming! Ooh! Ooh! And the Fairy Godmother! Both of them got really beautiful teeth!" Tooth twittered happily as some four or five fairies swooned behind her. I rolled my eyes. Typical of Tooth.

"I still believe this whole celebration is a waste of time… when I should be back at the Warren painting me more Easter eggs!" Bunnymund complained under his breath, although he still continued setting banners with my name on it. I grinned.

"He just jealous 'cause his first anniversary celebration was a complete disaster!" North whispered to me in his guttery Russian accent.

"Why what happened?" I chuckled, imagining Bunny's face when it happened.

"Do not even go there mate, I just might ruin Christmas." Bunnymund threatened North. He heard us apparently, even though he's a couple of meters away (well, he does have big ears). North let out his signature baritone "Ho, ho, ho" (which by the way sounded nothing like 'Ho, ho, ho.'), winking at Sandy as he formed images of an egg-shaped cake exploding at Bunny's face.

"Wow, I wish I was there to see it, kangaroo." I laughed. Bunny continued muttering under his breath.

"I am a bunny you…" He muttered. I couldn't hear the last part.

"Oh guys I wish I could help you with the preparations but there's so much work to do and-" Tooth paused and started shouting coordinates to some mini fairies. She turned back to us mouthing "Sorry."

"Nah, no biggie." I shrugged, smiling with assurance. I couldn't blame her duty's a 24/7 kind of job. Tooth began to speed flutter away while the rest of the yetis set up decorations. With all the fuss that was going on in North's headquarters, you'd think it was already Christmas Eve.

"North, are you really sure we'll be doing the celebration here? I mean come on, I didn't even know this anniversary stuff is a thing." I smiled at him while secretly stealing a cookie from a tray the elves were carrying.

"That's how we congratulate our rookies for a job well done lad!" North grinned, patting me on the back a bit too hard. "And I thought fun was your center!"

I coughed, "Uh, well, thanks I guess. Sure it won't bother with the toy-making though? Christmas is fast approaching."

"That's why I made the yetis work overtime last January!" North laughed in amusement, but the yetis thought otherwise.

Well, I can't say I'm complaining 'cause I think it's pretty rad what these guys are doing for me. I gazed up at the high window of North's work shop, silently thanking the Man on the Moon for all that he's brought me through. My first year as a guardian really was the best year of my life for the last 300 years.

"North! Look! Something's happening to the globe!"

I snapped my head at where Bunnymund was pointing at. There at the globe where the lights of the children that believed in us flickered began losing its lights at rapid speed. North rushed but I merely stood my ground. It wasn't because I was shocked though I really was, but because something more terrible has caught my attention.

When I looked back at the moon, it was the color of blood red.


	2. Chapter 1: Black Frost

Hello FF! I'm back to bring you chapter 1 of Red Moon and Black Ice!

**Disclaimer: I do not own ROTG and Frozen Characters, they belong to DreamWorks, Disney and their respective producers.**

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**Chapter 1: Black Frost**

My name is Elsa, and I am the queen of Arendelle.

It's been a year since that incident with my powers. I thought I had killed Anna that time, and some nights, those times still haunt me in my dreams. But our love for each other as sisters overpowered every fear that once controlled me. Right now, I'm confident in saying that I really am free.

I would not say that it was easy sailing since the eternal winter in Arendelle. Most of everyone gladly accepted me as their queen, but there are minorities plotting to bring me down. Some are still afraid, and I'm sad because of it. But I believe in Anna's words when she said that everyone in Arendelle loved me. It didn't matter what everyone thought though. Anna believes in me, and that's enough.

Because of Anna's sacrifice, I make it my point to have time for her every day. We planned to catch up on all those years I shut her out. Despite my busy schedule, I could squeeze in about two hours of my time each day for her. It's not easy, but it's worth it. The past months, I'd give her poise lessons (because she is such a klutz and I never had the heart to tell her), or give her advice on how to attract the ice man's attention. What was that man's name? Kristoff, was it? Some nights, when we felt the sky was awake, we'd secretly race through the corridors like when we were kids and build snowmen. Olaf was so delighted during those nights, because he got to talk to some of his kind if only for a time. You can call us childish, but I don't care. Our childhood was ruined because of me anyway, and I plan on fixing every bit of it.

Since the kingdom opened up its gates, a lot of people came to witness the beauty that was Arendelle. Because of the fame that came with my powers, a lot of foreign rich men thought that there was no more magnificent ice than the ice from Arendelle. Rumors sprung that Arendelle's ice would grant people eternal youth and beauty, explaining the queen's outstanding beauty (cough, cough). The rumors just made me roll my eyes and consider them flatteries.

By the recent months however, we've become very busy with many events and businesses. The kingdom is having a ball to celebrate the union of new trade partners with the country. Guests to invite, dignitaries to follow through, trades, party plans, bakers and dressmakers and other staff to hire… Along with that is the swarming of gifts and marriage proposals at my desk. Sigh… I wish I was back to those simpler days when being a girl from royalty was to merely sit pretty and wave. I guess the times indeed are changing. It was during these moments that I wished Mama and Papa was still alive.

"Your majesty, it's another gift from the King of the Southern Isles."

I groaned. "Return the gifts, and please send a letter of thanks for their generosity."

"Yes, your majesty."

The king of the Southern Isles has been doing this since what happened last year. They were guilty for what Hans did against Anna and I, and it wasn't easy for us to forgive him either. They were more afraid, however, that we'd shut down all our ties with their kingdom because of Hans' stupidity. And to make matters more stressful, one of their dukes are asking for my hand in marriage.

_Toc-toc-totoc-toc!_

"Come in." I said, a smile gracing my lips. Only Anna would knock like that.

"Hey Elsa! Do you want to build a snowman?" Anna beamed as her head peeped through the door. I chuckled. Same old Anna.

"It's the middle of summer Anna." I giggled. "There isn't any snow to build snowmen."

"Tch, like that's been such a big problem for you." she rolled her eyes in disbelief.

"Sorry Anna, but I think you caught me at a bad time." I smiled apologetically, gesturing to the piles of paperwork that we're threatening to cause an avalanche in my office. "And besides, you're not supposed to be barging in on the queen while she's on duty."

"Woah… That's gonna take you like forever to get done." Anna commented as she stepped into my office. "Need help?"

"No, no, I'm fine." I waved her off with a smile. "I can handle it. Perhaps you can go and play with Olaf."

Anna crossed her arms and pouted. "Oh no, you are not doing this alone Elsa. If I help, you get the job done faster, trust me."

"No, no, I'm fine, I mean it." I urged her. I flicked my wrist as thin walls of ice aligned the stacks of paper and shoved them gently and neatly to a corner of the room. "These things just need sorting and filing and all… and I have to look them over to see if they're the other kingdom's who'd want to trade with Arendelle."

"Really Elsa?" Anna raised an eyebrow and stepped closer to my desk. I tried to maintain my poise as queen, but I know she could sense that something was up.

She studied the stacks of letters by my desk suspiciously. I didn't move, knowing that flinching would give me away. I didn't want her to know that all of these letters were more marriage proposals and less trade. To me these were all business because I was a queen with duties to fulfill and responsibilities to uphold. But Anna was adamant that I should fall in love already. That all started last month when she felt guilty of turning down my offer to give her poise lessons because she had a date with Kristoff.

"Aha! I knew it!" she exclaimed as she spotted a stray letter that I hadn't noticed was on the floor. She snatched it off before I could even pick it up. I slapped my palm to my head in exasperation. "Someone's sending you a proposal and it's from… Prince Mikhail of Aster. Hey I met this guy from the ball we attended in Corona! I must tell you this guy is a blond and blue-eyed barrel of gorgeous!"

"Anna, we had this conversation before." I told her gently. "I'm not going to accept any of these proposals."

"Come on Elsa, at least give them a chance. Try to get to know them at least." She said. "It's better now than five or six years later. The time will come when the advisers will coax you into marriage and you won't stay young forever!" She was waving her hands as she said this, and the gestures never ceased to make me giggle at her antics.

"I think I can handle the kingdom on my own Anna. And if it's about heirs, I could always pass on the throne to your future son or daughter." I explained as I walked back to my desk to sign other papers. "Marriage is the last in my list of priorities right now. I've got a kingdom to run and I've got to catch up with all the lost time we should have had for each other. You know that Anna, don't you?"

Anna's expression softened as I told her this. But the fire in her eyes meant she wasn't about to let this issue go.

"I know Elsa…" she said as a small smile graced her face. She hesitated, wringing her hands against each other as she shyly walked towards me. "It's just that I'm worried about you and I think you're stressing out on your duties already. And maybe you need my help and I think you're taking everything on your own too seriously, and perhaps maybe you might need someone special in your life to help you out in everything all the time, like the way Kristoff is to me.."

"I can handle myself fine." I said without looking at her. I continued stamping, signing and sorting the papers, trying to balance my attention between her and my work. "A relationship will just distract me from my duties. And besides… I'm content just having you and Olaf and the rest of the staff by my side. You guys are worth more to me than the best husband in the world."

I tried to assess my words as I said them. I couldn't meet Anna's eyes, knowing that a time will come when she might marry Kristoff someday and have a family with him. I know that time will come that I might be alone again because some people would need her too. She'd grow old with someone else, have children and grandchildren and be happy. I'm already confident that I won't find the kind of love Anna found in Kristoff, but it doesn't really matter. It's sad, but… who'd fall for the Snow Queen who almost froze her own kingdom to death? Well, at least I'm glad there's Olaf.

"Elsa…" I heard her murmur. I didn't notice when she was already beside me. When I looked up at her from my chair she suddenly wrapped me in her embrace, with tears in her eyes. I blinked. Was it something I said?

"I love you Elsa." she said against the crook of my neck. "I'm glad we're best buddies again."

"I love you too Anna." I answered her as I patted her back gently.

She pulled herself away with her signature smirk and a twinkle in her eye. "But seriously, you have to get yourself a boyfriend!"

I rolled my eyes. So much for sentimental moments. I went back to my work as I tried to tune her out.

"Come on Elsa! Just try this Prince Mikhail guy! I talked to him before!" She said as she tried to get my attention. "He's funny, and he likes kittens! Come on, you don't meet a guy who likes kittens every day!"

"Anna…" I warned. She was close to getting on my nerves.

"He's tall and slightly on the beefy side like Kristoff, and he's loves horse riding and-"

"Anna…" I glared at her. "I'm working."

"Please Elsa? Please? Just… meet this guy. Or meet any good guy for that matter. Have some dinner, walk in the park… just… just do this for me okay? Please?"

I looked up at Anna again, her face in a ridiculous puppy pout. Well, it kind of works.

"If I say yes will you leave me to my work?" I asked her.

"I'll have the servants send him a letter that says you'd like to have dinner with him!" Anna beamed as she skipped happily to the door. Wait, did she say-

"Wait I haven't…" but Anna was already gone, squealing happily like a love-struck teenager. I shook my head. Typical Anna. She means well, I know. But I'm just not…

I try to bury these thoughts at the back of my mind as I continued working. To worry about this dinner Anna set me up can wait… because right now, I am queen of Arendelle.

As I continued finishing my work, I noticed that it was evening already. A few servants had set up the lamps in the room, bobbing curtseys as they came and left. Deciding to take a break I walked to my room towards the balcony just to admire the beauty of the kingdom. I felt the cold summer air kiss my cheeks, bringing relaxing shivers down my body, the stars twinkling in the night sky. I could hear crickets sing their evening songs, and some faint chatter from the staff passing through the halls. I could hear Anna singing to herself from another room. By the words she sang, I was guessing she was singing love songs to the sketch drawing of Kristoff she secretly kept in her drawer. I chuckled to myself. Anna doesn't know that I know about that.

Sigh… love. Though I consider myself single forever, sometimes I do dream about it. What would it be like to fall in love? To have someone to adore and to serve and to cherish like how Mama loved Papa, or how Anna considers Kristoff her best male friend? I never felt the teenage excitement of infatuation because I always shut people out. I don't think I've ever been in love with anyone aside from my family at all…

I know that I should stop with the pretense. I should stop concealing. I should start feeling. Maybe I really should consider meeting at least one of the men who want my hand in marriage.

But what if they are afraid? What if they think the Snow Queen is a monster like those others?

When Anna starts a family of her own, what will become of me? I would never admit it to her, but I'm scared of the day she'd tell me that Kristoff proposed to her. I know that their place woud still be in Arendelle when they start a family but… it won't be the same like before. I'm scared when the time comes that I'd have to be alone, with no one to grow old with, and I'm afraid that that future would be inevitable for me.

Sometimes, I wish there was someone like me out there… someone like me, but different. Someone who knows what it's like to be different, to be alone… and yet be headstrong and optimistic, and unafraid… Someone who doesn't care if I am queen or if I have powers… someone who sees me as a friend and not as Queen Elsa of Arendelle. Yes, that's a very appealing thought…. But I know that someone will never come. He will only be a figment of my imagination. My ideal King, who will sweep me off my feet… sigh…

Despite everything I see though, I felt that there was something quite wrong with the evening. I felt uneasy, like there was something very peculiar about my surroundings. Last time I felt this way was when I felt my powers go out of control… But I can control them now because of love. So what could be wrong?

As I touched the railing, I felt cold stab through my skin, almost like a frost bite. I jerked my hands away in shock as I saw something black crawl all over the ledge. I gasped.

"What… what is this?"

Cautiously, I edged nearer towards the railing, wanting to figure out what the black thing was. It was like glimmering black dust, almost like frost except it was the color black.

"Did I… do this?" I said to myself.

Experimentally, I zapped the thing with my powers. I was surprised to see that the black frost retreated into nothing, replaced by my snow. With trembling fingers, I touched it. Seeing there wasn't any harm done, I sighed in relief.

"I almost thought I did that…. Maybe I'm just tired." I told myself.

But when I turned around, I saw the walls of my room already covered in jagged glittering black frost.

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A/N: I would like to say sorry for the cliffy... don't worry! They'll see each other soon! I promise. The thing that happened in my summary will happen soon...

ooh... I wonder what casued the black frost? :)


	3. Chapter 2: The Pretty Crimson Lights

I'm back! Because it's our final exam in Media Laws and Ethics later tonight (GMT+8), this chapter won't be as long as the previous one. But there's progress!

I would like to thank **Emma Everdeen and Immortal-99 **for being the first ones to review. I also thank those readers who followed and faved this fanfic! You make the Olaf in me a happy snowman!

And now I bring you chapter two of Red Moon and Black Ice! *minion voice* TADA!

**Disclaimer: Really? Me, own ROTG and Frozen? If I did I would have been a billionaire by now!**

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**Chapter 2: Pretty Crimson Lights**

My name is Jack Frost, and I have very bad news.

The night before my first anniversary as guardian was… a bit alarming. Well not a bit. It was totally alarming.

"Is this the work of Pitch?" North asked. His eyes narrowed viciously at the flickering lights on the globe. "Yetis, stand guard! Go see if boogey man makes another appearance."

Sandy zoomed beside North, his sand whips ready as his gaze surveyed the workshop. I continued looking at the moon, my shock still getting the better of me.

"Hey North, look up." I heard Bunnymund say. Then they saw it, from the window of North's ceiling. The moon was shining an angry red, casting faint crimson lights over the center of the room. "Something's wrong with Manny."

The elves trembled, the bells on their heads tinkling as they gathered behind the yetis. Icy ash-colored clouds hugged the edges of the moon, partially obscuring it from view, and the lights in the workshop gradually went dim.

"Oh no." North breathed.

"What… what's wrong? What happened to the moon? Has this happened before?" I asked, finding my voice. I turned to North, Sandy, and Bunnymund, who looked just as alarmed as I was.

"This never happened to moon before." North murmured in answer. He gazed upon the faint red beams that painted the floors. I followed my gaze, feeling a peculiar sense of dread.

"Well if it is Pitch, that shouldn't be a problem, right? I mean we beat him before, we can beat him again!" I encouraged. Sandy agreed with me as he pounded his fists together in determination.

North half ran to his office, returning a few moments later with the Guardian's Handbook. He placed it across the table with a thud, hurriedly skipping the pages until he found a page with a moving picture of a red moon.

"Red moon. " he whispered. "It's not possible..."

Before anyone else could ask what he meant, we heard the familiar fluttering of fairies zoom in from the high window. It was Tooth along with many of her fairies panting for air. She made a bad landing as she crashed to the floor, knocking some of the reject toys in the proccess. The little fairies that came with her swarmed around her with worry, and it took us a few seconds to even respond to what was happening.

"Tooth, what happened?" I asked her as I flew to her side. Bunnymund joined us in a couple of hops, rubbing Tooth's back as she was shaking.

"Crikey, you look like you just flew from a blizzard!" he exclaimed. He was right, Tooth was shivering cold, an it seemed like she was covered in... black frost?

"Blizzard..." she panted, her teeth chattering. "... Burgess..."

Oh no. "Jamie..."

"Was it Pitch Black?" Bunnymund asked her, trying to restrain the urgency in his voice.

"N-not sure... Other f-fairies missing..." she said, forcing out her words. "B-black snow... everywhere."

Bunnymund looked at me, his stares narrowed.

"Wait, I don't know anything about this." I said, siddenly feeling devensive.

"I'm not saying anything kid." he said. "I'm just saying... has Pitch found a way to tamper with your powers?"

Realization dawned on me... "Like what he did with Sandy..."

"Precisely..." Bunnymund said.

"Dinkle!" North bellowed. "Prepare the slay! We make important road trip." He began walking in wide hurried steps towards the slay. We followed suit, with Bunny carrying Tooth and Sandy hovering overhead.

"Wait, what?" Bunny "We don't have time for bloody road trips mate! We got ourselves a situation 'ere!"

"He's right North." I agreed. "Pitch is probably out there and Jamie and the other children might be in danger. I say we head to Burgess now!"

"'Ey, wait hold up you little showpony." Bunnymund said, drawing me away from North with the boomerang in his hand. "This ain't something you just deal with head on."

"Bunny's r-right... we need h-help." Tooth chattered as she hugged herself. One of the yetis gave her a mug of egg nog and she mouthed a thanks.

"What?!" Unbelievable! What if people were in danger there 'cause we kept stalling? I was determined that we go to Burgess straight away. "We don't have time to look for help! Like, who're we gonna turn to? There maybe other guardians, but we are the only guardians of childhood I know!"

"Aye. But this is something bigger than us Jack... This isn't just about the children anymore... This concerns all of humanity now," North replied as he readied the slay, with a couple of snowglobes in tow.. "That's why we'll be needing a bit of help."

"From who?" I asked.

Noth turned back to us with an intimidating expression. His shadow seemed to loom above me as his eyes narrowed and his voice deepened to a more dangerous level.

"From someone as old as Man in Moon." he murmured. "We visit Father Time."

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My name is Elsa, and I have very bad news.

There is something going on within the palace. Something dark and mysterious. I am afraid... so afraid that the black frost that covered my room was due to my powers.

_Keep it together Elsa... conceal it... don't feel it... don't let it show..._

"No." I said. I'm not afraid.

So what I did was zap the black frost with my own frost. And like what I had hoped, my ice disintegrated the frost into nothing. White burned the black into vapor as frost on frost filled the room, coating my chambers in patterns of white and blue flakes. Now I just have to melt the ice and clean up.

Thawing it out was simple. I just think of my love for Anna amd the frost disappears. But I had to take extra precaution. To see frost in the middle of summer was no ordinary thing. Especially something that was both cold and dark.

The next day I had to watch my surroundings carefully, seeing if the dark icy things would make their appearance again. I thought whether or not I should alert the people inside the palace, but a week has passed and I haven't seen any black frosts anymore. I shrugged. Maybe I was just imagining things that night. I was tired that time anyway... but I still feel that I need to be very careful. Perhaps one of these days I'd visit Kristoff's adoptive family.

I tread warily through the castle corridors until one of the servants delivered me a message tray with replies from different nobles from other countries. When I read them as I spent time alone in my office, I was surprised to see that I was to meet seven different men for the next week!

Not only did Anna set me up with the Prince of Aster... but she also sent letters approving courtship from the other lords and dukes from some of our allies. I do not know how she did this, and it seems my advisers widely approve of her actions. Because I love my sister, I did not make the choice to punish her for impersonating the queen or faking my signature. If this is what Olaf calls "rolling with it", well... maybe I should just "roll with it". For the next week, I will be meeting with different bachelors everyday. To think that I still have a lot of duties to do. Sigh...

So I decided to take the day off, leaving my trusted governors to take care of the minor business. Even though the townspeople accept me as I am, I still feel quite uneasy when a lot of people bob their curtseys and greetings at me. That is why I leave the castle wearing a disguise, appearing as a peasant girl to everyone I meet. I giggle, feeling like a princess about to cause trouble. It seems I really do have a lot of catching up to do with my lost years.

I walked the cobblestone streets of the townsquare, breathing in the scents of freshly baked bread, freshly picked fruits and vegetables, and the odd yet tantalizing rawness of meats. The yammering of vendors in the markets was like music to my ears, with each booth beckoning to passerbys about how delicious or fresh or exclusive their goods were. Families would sometimes spend their time just walking through the parks, enjoying one another's company. Sometines I shy away from lovers frolicking by the more secluded parts of the city, but fawning over how beautiful young love was and wondering if I'd ever even know what it's like to have someone to hold my hand in loving affection.

I blushed at the thought. Here I am, the queen of Arendelle, day dreaming like a pathetic little school girl. I began walking further from the castle, keeping my head down and making sure the olive green hood I wore would obscure my face from view.

"But Mama you promised!"

"Oh I know dearie... but her highness is a very busy person. She has to do her best to take good care of the kingdom."

I spied a little girl wailing in front of her mother. By the hats and decorations that sprayed the small restaurant they were in, the girl was celebrating her birthday. Well, not in a very festive way at least because she looked kind of miserable.

"But I wanna see her! She has to be here for my birthday!" the girl wept. "I wanna see her do the magic! And you promised she'd be here to wish me happy birthday! You promised!"

The mother looked completely sad and helpless as she tried to comfort her little girl. They didn't seem like they came from a noble family. There were only a few guests, mostly children from the lower class. I felt sorrow in my heart for them, and for the little girl who wanted me to be there.

Well, I normally don't remove my disguise. But I'll have to make an exception.

I entered the restaurant, opening the doors a wee bit dramatically (and accidentally destroying them in the proccess).

"Oops. Sorry." I murmured shyly. So much for entrances.

"Oy! Ye have to pay fer that, man!" The owner yelled at me.

"Oh do not worry sir." I grinned smugly as I pulled down my hood to reveal myself. "I'll send my herald tommorow to pay for the damages and more."

The people inside the people inside the room gasped and hurriedly bowed low to acknowledge me. The owner seemed flustered with embarasmment, accidentally knocking down some of his good chairs. I giggled.

"I'm sorry fer yellin' yer majesty." he blubbered. "I di'nt know ye would be here... uhm." The owner turned towards the kitchen. "Marcus! Prepare our best meal fer her highness!"

"Oh, that won't be necessary." I smiled politely. "I came here for a very special someone."

I felt my soul elate as I winked at the little girl celebrating her birthday. Her eyes were filled with joy, tugging at her dumbfounded mother's cloak as she pointed excitedly toward me.

"She's here Mama! She's here!" she said happily as she bounced up and down her stool. Looking at her equally awestruck friends, she continued gesturing towards me in delight.

"I told you guys she was coming!" she said as she bounced down and rushed towards me.

"Agnes!" her mother called, feigning embarassment at her daughter's actions. I smiled at her in reassurance.

Bending down to Agnes height, I kissed her on the forehead and looked into her wide brown eyes filled with joy. I giggled, seeing the same childish joy Anna has within the little girl.

"So your name is Agnes, am I right?" I smiled at her.

"She knows my name!" she gasped, her grin stretching from ear to ear while she nodded.

"Happy Birthday Agnes!" I greeted her, softly ruffling her caramel blond hair with my right hand. "And I made you something extra special."

I slowly removed my hand from her head, my fingers slowly wriggling as ice began to take shape on her hair. I felt the crowd behind me ooh and aah at the sight of a brilliant little tiara of ice atop Agnes' head. The people clapped in awe and I spotted the girl's mother wipe a tear and bow at me in thanks. Agnes twirled in glee, jumping up and down as she admired her gift.

"Do the magic! Do the magic!" Agnes giggled.

I smiled. She was just like Anna when we were little.

Nodding my head, I moved my hands together and morphed a snowball in my hands suspended in air.

"Are you ready?" I asked her. The crowds cheered in encouragement.

"Yes!" she said.

With that, I flung the snowball high up towards the ceiling where it exploded into hundreds of tiny snowflakes. All of a sudden there was a beautiful snowfall inside the restaurant, the people admiring the flurries that fell above them. I never felt happier today than now, when I see the merry faces of my people right here and right now, because of what I can do.

Agnes ran towards me and hugged me. Besides Anna, I'm not used to people hugging me, but I was too fond of Agnes to deny her.

"Thank you Queen Elsa!" she murmured against my middle.

I bent down to her height and returned her embrace. "Your welcome little one."

"Hey look over there!" I heard someone yell. I followed the people's gazes as they exited the restaurant. Holding Agnes' hand, I led her out along with me to see what the fuss was all about.

Then I saw something that was both breathtaking and terrifying at the same time.

There was a large comet descending slowly from the heavens towards the northern mountains. In a flash it struck the ground, shaking the earth a little and erupting flares of crimson lights toward the sky. As soon as the lights reached the air, these exploded into dusts taking the shape of a fairy, a stout man, a giant, a kangaroo, and a tall sheperd.

"Woah..." I heard Agnes say. "Pretty lights..."

Indeed they were... But that was not what really caught my attention. Because alongside, the comet that fell to the earth, a black cloud rose and took the form of something sinister...

I needed to go the trolls. And fast.

* * *

My name is Jack Frost, and I feel sick.

I'm never one to get motion sick over flying (that's Bunny's job), but there's something about the path to our destination that just gave queasy feelings in my stomach. Maybe that's because we were'nt just traveling through air, but because we were traveling through time.

We were going to meet Father Time. One of the oldest immortals of all time. Older than even the first guardian of childhood, Sandy. As old as the Man in the Moon himself.

Images of events overlapping one another flashed like distorted movies before our eyes. It felt like our bodies were stretched from every side as we saw past, present and future collide in a swirl of colors. I couldn't make out which time was which because of the horrible feeling in my gut... Uh-oh, I think I feel my breakfast wants to break out through my throat.

Travelling through time took a heavier toll on Bunnymund who wasn't a very big fan of sleigh rides. Even Tooth seemed a bit off at the idea of time travel, even after recovering from her frostbite. Apparently North and Sandy were the only ones who actually met the Timekeeper, or as North would like to call him, Hickory, in person, claiming they used to visit him once a few centuries ago. So throughout the ride, everyone's eggnogs and cookies and carrots were threatening to shower over the sleigh save Claus and the Sandman.

When passed through a final portal, we saw a large tower that looked like a giant grandfather clock. It was much, much, much bigger and grander than Big Ben in London, I tell you, because its walls were actually made of thousands of wall clocks, each looking different than the other. When my eyes scanned the surroundings, I was shocked beyond belief.

"We're in..."

"In space, yes!" North chuckled.

"But not our space." I said. I knew enough about space from Jamie's homework that this space and our space were not the same space at all...


	4. Chapter 3: Dark Times

So guys, I now present to you chapter 3 of Red Moon and Black Ice!

**Disclaimer: Do you see a 'William Joyce' name plastered on my head? Of course not. And it's pretty unlikely for DreamWorks and Disney to be making fanfics of their own works don't you agree?**

* * *

**Chapter 3: Dark Times**

My name is Jack Frost, and I am awestruck.

Here we were floating in what North liked to call "the space outside the world, outside of time." It was a beautiful place. Much like outer space only different.

Specs of differently colored lights dusted the far expanse of darkness, while mechanical-looking birds soared through the spaces in streaks of silver and gold. Nuts and bolts suspended through space and at the center of the infinity of stars and dust clouds, floating like a giant monument was the Great Clock Tower where Father Time lived. We could hear the different tick-tock sounds from the clocks that coated its walls, and surprisingly, they didn't sound so annoying to the ears.

The Sleigh landed smoothly on the top of the tower, where funny looking alien-like creatures with misty silver eyes looked at us curiously. Each creature had large heads, their bodies shaped like different models of hour-glasses. They surrounded the sleigh, and the reindeers began to huddle closer warily. I kept my staff ready, just in case. But the creatures didn't look like they were going to hurt us.

"Woah…" I breathed as I floated down the sleigh, yet still maintaining a defensive stance. Somewhere behind me, Bunny was barfing. Tooth fluttered down, her eyes crossed looking dizzy. "I didn't know aliens exist."

"They are not aliens." I heard a deep voice call from the far corner of the area. "These beautiful creatures are called the wraiths of time… but you do not know that."

From a magnificent looking gate emerged a tall thin man with a long silver beard wearing a white silk robe. He held a tall staff in his right hand which had some sort of bauble that was shaped like an hour-glass. His thick white eyebrows hid his eyes from view, and he wore a grandfatherly smile that was both ancient and welcoming.

"Ah! Hickory!" North greeted him as he stepped down from the sleigh. In a couple of steps he was in front of the man who shook his hand a little too enthusiastically. "It's like you haven't aged a day my friend!"

The man wriggled his eyebrows as if he were rolling his eyes. Sandy zoomed beside North and shook his hand too.

"You're Father Time?" Tooth asked as she recovered from her dizziness. We both helped Bunny up who still looked green in the face.

"The one and only. But please call me Hickory." the man smiled. There was something about him that just made you want to trust him easily. Unlike North, he was less intimidating and gentler in speech. When he strode toward us, it appeared as if he was gliding through air, his robes flowing around him in an ethereal glow. Only when he was a couple of meters nearer did I notice that his skin was pale and silvery in color, like he was carved from ivory. Swirling marks of faint gold were tattooed on his long, bony hands. He really did look as ancient as his name suggests, but there was no hostility found in him.

"You must be Jack Frost." he smiled at me. He turned to the others and gave another fatherly smile. "And you must be the Tooth Fairy, and you the Easter Bunny."

"How did you…"

"I am the Timekeeper." He answered before I could finish my question. "What do you expect? I see past, present and future like it all happened in a day. I know all that you were, all that you are, and all that you are to become…"

"Then you must know who caused the black winter in Burgess, right?" I asked, hoping for answers.

Hickory looked at me for a moment and smiled. "Yes. But information about the dark winter is not a convenience I can grant you now."

I gaped in disbelief. "WHAT? But, the people there must be in danger! What about Jamie, and the other children?"

The Timekeeper held out his hand and I stopped. Right then he raised his eyebrows and I saw his eyes for the first time. They were hollow, and in place of normal eyeballs were two glowing lights that changed its colors as he spoke. I backed away… I mean, who wouldn't find a man with freaky eyes unsettling?

"The cold and darkness are but mere fruits of a greater evil done…" Hickory began, like he was narrating a story. Everyone was silent as we waited for him to continue. He raised his staff slightly in the air until he struck the ground. Soon, our surroundings evaporated into a different place… or rather, a different space.

"We are…" I murmured.

"On the moon…" Tooth finished for me.

From our spot, we saw the earth block the sun from view and cast a great shadow upon us. I think we were witnessing some sort of lunar eclipse… It was a really cool sight, and honestly, I wish I had a camera right now. But my thoughts turned to looking for the Man in the Moon since we were here in his zone anyway.

"It is futile."

I jumped a little, startled that Hickory was suddenly beside me.

"This is merely an illusion. A reenactment of something that once came to pass." He said.

"Look! Is that…"

We followed North's pointing finger which landed upon a boy who looked no older than 12 or 13 with a fishing rod in his hands. He had teal blue eyes that seemed closer to white than blue and hair that reflected the light that came from the sun. He was a beautiful child, much like the pictures you see of baby angels in calendars or paintings. I felt my mouth drop to the ground in astonishment. Is that kid…

"Is he the Man in the Moon?" I heard Tooth ask in disbelief.

"Crikey." Bunnymund whispered, his green eyes looking like they were going to come out of their sockets. "He looks like more of a… a kid… on the moon."

The boy opened his mouth to speak. No audible voice came out… but I felt that I knew what he was saying… the same way he had first spoken to me when he told me who I was. It felt like a mental voice, something that spoke to the head. I really don't know how to describe it, but it felt as if I really knew what words came out of his mouth.

_What are you doing here?_

None of us answered. All of us looked too awestruck. I assumed none of us has ever really met the Man in the Moon in person.

Then I noticed that Manny wasn't really looking at us. He was looking passed us.

I followed his gaze, narrowing my eyes since he was looking at an area of the moon that was hidden in the shadows. That was when I noticed something move. A man cloaked in darkness emerged from the shadows. I gripped my staff and gritted my teeth. _Pitch!_

"Finally, I get to meet the one and only Man in the Moon." He sneered ", to think that the almighty master of the guardians is no more than a pathetic little boy!"

"Pitch!" Bunnymund roared. He began to hop furiously towards the boogey man when Sandy caught him with his whip, pulling him back to sit down and pressing his finger to his lips to silence him.

"But he's going to attack the boy!" Tooth cried, but chose to flutter in place.

"Like what Hickory said." North told us. "Only reenactment of what has happened before."

_What do you want? _I felt Manny ask. I still didn't get how I knew that, but I knew that he spoke that.

"I want… my life back!" Pitch hissed angrily as a giant shadow scythe morphed in his hands. He was about to strike the Man in the Moon when the boy swished his fishing pole with one strike and unbelievably struck the weapon out of Pitch's hands. A mysterious blue glow enveloped the boy, seeming to chase the darkness away as he strode confidently towards where Pitch stood.

_And what if I give it back? _The boy asked, his eyes seeming to be filled with compassion. I was shocked beyond belief. Why would someone show mercy for a nightmare?

"Wait… you mean you will?" Pitch asked him looking as shocked as I was. A crazy wicked smile painted his face as he laughed like a mad man, slapping the ground repeatedly. "You have a ridiculous sense of humor, Man in the Moon!"

_If I grant you your life back… _Manny murmured,_ there would be no more fear…_

_No, _I thought. _Don't do it._

"Yes… yes!" Pitch half-laughed. "So there would be NO MORE FEAR! NO MORE DARKNESS! NO MORE BOOGEYMAN!"

_And there would be no more guardians…_

If it was possible for my body to run cold, it did. Right when the soundless words escaped from the child's lips, it felt like he had sentenced all of us to death. I didn't know why… but I've never felt more horrified all my life.

"Oh no…" Tooth whispered. Apparently, she could 'hear' Manny's voice too. "Don't do it!"

"He's only playing tricks on you mate!" Bunnymund called to him. "Don't listen!"

North looked shocked as well. Even Sandman looked like he had been stabbed. I wasn't the only one who 'heard' it.

'_There would be no more guardians' _he said. Did the Man in the Moon just make choice to wipe us out of existence?

Just when we were about to despise the Man in the Moon, the moonlit boy made a mischievous smirk as he swished his fishing rod in an extreme arc and struck Pitch with the hook of its line. He ran gracefully towards the boogey man and with a wave of his palm, he struck him with a sudden burst of light.

But Pitch quickly recovered, rising from his fall and forming yet another shadow scythe from his hands. Soon, when the lunar eclipse was complete, an evil smile appeared on his lips as he tread dangerously closer to the Man in the Moon.

Manny heaved for air and suddenly fell to his knees, his fishing pole forgotten on the ground. The glow of moonlight disappeared from his body, leaving him like a kid in nothing but white robes and curly platinum hair. He looked up at Pitch with fire in his eyes.

"Oh, I know what your weakness is, the so called Man in the Moon." Pitch muttered, the venom in his voice evident as he towered above him. "Your power is merely a pathetic reflection of light borrowed from the sun! Without it, you are nothing! You're just a foolish little boy who cares about nothing else but the pathetic lives of children."

"No!" I flew towards him, blasting him with my powers. But then my powers just flew through them, evaporating into nothing. That's when I remembered that this was just all an illusion of something that happened before.

With a brave face, Manny looked up and faced Pitch with a gentle looking smile. He began to laugh, sounding like a chime of bells as he stood helplessly against the nightmare.

_Go ahead… _he said. _You can hurt me all you want. But you will never harm the children._

"Oh, but it's not just the children's fear I want." Pitch grinned wickedly below him, his ocher eyes gleaming evilly as he placed the blade of his scythe closer to Manny's neck. "It's the fear of the human race I want, _Manny!_ It is _your _fear that I want!"

Manny faced him proudly, like it was going to be the last time he ever stood before him. I held my breath as I watched what happened next.

_I am not afraid. _

Then it happened all too quickly. Raising his scythe high, Pitch swung the weapon fiercely, slashing at the Man in the Moon's middle. The boy whose face never scrunched into hatred crumbled to the ground, his blood gleaming and coating the rest of the moon in a sorrowful flooding of red.

And then there were sounds of a loud angry heartbeat.

"NOOOOOO!"

Suddenly we were back at the Clock Tower. Tooth crumbled to the ground, weeping softly. Bunnymund looked pale, his ears folded down. North looked like he had been frozen, and Sandy looked like all the dreams he gave were no more than, well, dreams. I couldn't… I couldn't believe it. The Man in the Moon… he's…

"He is not dead." I heard Hickory say. I looked up and saw Father Time's gentle smile. Somehow his smile resembled that of the moonlit boy.

"But, Pitch struck him." I whispered, the shock still evident in my voice. "There was blood everywhere."

"There is but only sorrow everywhere." He answered. "We immortals cannot die until the Great Master calls us home. It is only sorrow that exists now… and sorrow can also give birth to fear."

Hickory glided towards North and patted him on the shoulder. "But faith gives hope… and with hope there is also love… and joy… and dreams… and wonder… The Man in the Moon has chosen all of you to protect these in the hearts of the children of men."

"But what is Pitch planning? Why did it appear like the Man in the Moon was dead?" Tooth asked him between sobs.

"His power merely reflects the light that comes from the sun…" Hickory murmured. "Until the blood moon is over, the Man in the Moon is lost to us."

"The lunar eclipse." North said. "Blood moon is caused by lunar eclipse."

"Giving the boogey man enough time to strike fear in the hearts of all men." The Timekeeper said, sounding more ancient than ever.

"It would mean the end of everything." Bunnymund breathed, the tone his voice seeming colder than ice.

"I don't understand," I said as I felt my knuckles turn whiter than they already are. "Pitch was supposed to be trapped by Nightmares… What could have possibly set him free?"

Hickory made slight swishing movements above his head. Another portal appeared, seeming like a giant oval TV screen. The wraiths of time began circling the frame of the portal like dancing jellyfish as images formed within it. It was Pitch, breaking free from the holds of the black stallions he made. I took note that the Nightmares were sniffing something… and that was when it came to me that-

"They smelled a bigger kind of fear." I heard Bunnymud say. He took the words right out of my mouth.

"And Man in Moon knows it." North continued. "But who could have triggered the fear?"

Sandy also had a question mark forming above his head.

We continued watching until the scenes changed into a castle… it looked like somewhere in Norway, I think. The place was within a strong blizzard until the winds and flurries just simultaneously stopped. And then, the ice and snow turned black, coating the whole castle in dark snow. In the middle was a young woman… a weeping woman, with black hair and pale skin, wearing a mourning gown and a shiny silver crown upon her head. I could not make out the details of her face, but there was a beauty to her that I couldn't describe. Soon, a man stood beside her, placing a hand on her bare shoulder. A tall man, dressed in a royal black military suit, with a sharp chin and a suspiciously familiar set of ocher eyes.

"Is that… who I think it is?" I asked.

"Pitch Black." Hickory murmured in answer. "He has discovered a way to disturb the flow of time. He went back to change the course of history, sensing the fear that might have surpassed even the changing seasons. A devious one indeed… discovering that the shadows are as ancient as that of the other elements."

"So he traveled through time using shadows?" North asked him, his thick brows meeting at the middle in confusion.

"Fear is a timeless enemy as love is a timeless victor." Hickory said absently.

"We have to stop him." Tooth declared as she rose from her mourning, her wings fluttering with determination. "We're going to pay back what he did to the poor little boy!"

The portal vanished and Father Time solemnly turned back to us with a confident smile peeking from his beard. If it were not for his thick bushy eyebrows, I would have thought that he was looking directly at me.

"Then save this woman from fear. She is the key to thawing the Black Ice."

Before any of us had time to react, another portal opened beneath us and we fell… boy, we fell, and fell without warning.

Our screams came late as we felt ourselves hurtled through time yet again. And this time, without the aid of North's sleigh. I struggled trying to grab my staff which left my grip when we passed the portal, and because it was all too sudden, Sandy began to panic and shot so much sand around us, oddly missing us by mere inches.

"HOLD ON!" I heard myself yell.

"What are we gonna hold on to?!" Tooth screamed at the top of her lungs.

And then I began to see where we were. We were falling from the sky like an angry red comet towards a land filled with lush green mountains and deep blue seas. I spotted the same castle from Hickory's vision stand tall and proud at the heart of the isle, with a fjord filled with many large and impressive ships. That was basically what I was only able to register in my mind because sooner than we realized, we were tumbling through trees, rocks and shrubs and more trees and vines and shrubs until I found myself landing on the ground with a hard "oof!" and looking at a big mossy stone with a pair of eyes planted on it…

Wait, say what?

* * *

A/N: I am so sorry for another cliffy. Please, please bear with me. I hope it doesn't feel like I'm dragging the story too long. But they will meet! And there will be lighter moments in the following chapters and the Jelsa fluff we all know and love!

I also hope you like my version of Manny! :) I never saw the Dream Works' short film "Man in the Moon" so I didn't know how to give greater depth to such a mysterious character. That's why I assumed that Manny would be like my imaginary fisherman on Dream Works' moon. ^^

Please do a review! Much appreciated with loves and kisses!

Also, I have a question... in hand-to-hand combat, who do you htink would win? Oaken or North? :)


	5. Chapter 4: Red Roses

Hi guys, I'm back! I would like to dedicate this chapter to HopelessRomantic183 for giving me a wonderful review. And also for the rest of you who read, reviewed, faved and followed this fic, I send you my virtual home-made cookies! Kyaah! I feel so touched and honored!

Again please feel free to leave a review and I'll try my best to update at least once or twice a week.

Anyway, do you guys know about that petition for ROTG sequel page in Facebook? I was a wee bit pissed at some FB users who bash Elsa just because Frozen made bigger bucks than ROTG or they hate Disney, period. That's just sad (and childish, if you ask me). Come on! Share the wintry love fellas! We don't bash Jack Frost 'cause he's cute, and we love Elsa because she's been through a lot of hell. Besides, I think it's typical for animation companies to have rivalries, and if rumors about Disney being responsible for ROTG not making the Academy Awards true then, well, I think Dream Works should have done a better job at promoting ROTG or Frozen must have been a really, really, really, good movie.

Come on, I love Dream Works as much as the next person, and I've been a loyal Disney fan since childhood. They're both the best in entertaining us with memorable animation films and such. Just, share the love people! Come on!

Well, enough about my ridiculous rant. We move on with the story!

**Disclaimer: I do not own DreamWorks or Disney. Because if I did, there would be no Jelsa bashing, and ROTG and Frozen would have had a crossover sequel. So there!**

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**Chapter 4: Red Roses**

In the space outside the world, outside of time stood Father Time at the top of the Great Clock Tower, gazing towards the universe as he silently listened to the ticking of his thousands upon thousands of clocks. He smiled that fatherly smile of his, with a silver tear escaping his hidden right eye.

"Oh Manny…" he murmured, his deep ancient voice filled with much sorrow. "If your plan fails… you will forever be lost to us… and you have doomed them all…"

_I will not be lost… _A soundless voice answered him. _I will be merely forgotten… But you already know that my plan will work… you see past, present and future in a day after all…_

"But you have chosen such grievous means…" Father Time answered as he began to tread around the top floor. The wraiths swirled around him as the gears that decorated the tower's beautiful battlements began to move and count the hour. "All has been decided, and yet… the journey that leads to the end will bring nothing but pain upon them."

_There is beauty that comes out of the ashes, my friend… _The voice answered. _Like when the Dark Ages came to a close, hope was reborn in the hearts of the sons of men… and a greater joy will befall them all when all has come to pass…_

"You are very confident Manny," The Timekeeper grinned. "I just hoped that you had chosen less painful means, and this is what the Great One also intends… but for now… you are lost to us…"

_Only for now, Father… only for now…_

"Until you open your eyes, dear child," Father Time answered, as a final tear escaped his rainbow-colored globes of eyes.

And then the soundless voice was gone, and the clocks struck midnight.

* * *

My name is Elsa, and I am afraid.

But I'm not afraid for myself. I'm afraid for my people. As soon as the red comet made its descent, which I guessed was somewhere near the North Mountain, the people around the square began to murmur in slightly frightened voices. I wanted to reach out to them, to tell them not to panic. But as soon as I saw the dark cloud that seemed to swarm like a giant eagle across the slopes, I also felt a sense of fear wash over me.

Soon, the speeding black cloud zoomed dangerously closer to the kingdom. In a heartbeat, it swarmed the northern villages 'til it was only a mere seconds away from the square.

That was when the whole kingdom began to panic.

"_Monster!"_

The people began running in different directions, with some stalls destroyed in the process and some animals for sale began running wild through the streets. Little Agnes started to cry beside me, and I gently pushed her behind me in defense. "You're safe, Agnes… you're safe."

The cloud swept angrily across the skies like a swarm of locusts, attacking everything in its path as shadows crawled alongside them, like dust, or sand sparkling in the sunlight. Where the black cloud touched, cold and darkness was left in its wake. _Black Frost. _

"Look out!" I yelled.

An old man that was too weak to run had been caught up in the cloud, and when it passed him, he turned into a statue of black ice. I shuddered, the fear creeping through my skin. Still in my right mind, I instantly let go of Agnes' hand as my own frost crept out from my body. I had to get myself under control or else my own fears would betray me!

_Get yourself together Elsa… Control it! Don't feel! Don't feel! Don't feel!_

"Everyone!" I yelled as I ran towards the cloud that was now swirling at the heart of the square, floating sinisterly above the same fountain I froze the year before. "Stand behind me! Now!"

The people hurriedly crowded behind me with wide expectant eyes. And inside of me, I could only make out one thing for sure… The people were looking to me now. They were looking to the Queen of Arendelle. The Queen of Ice and Snow.

_Conceal, don't feel… don't let it show._

"No." I murmured. _I'm not afraid._

Instinctively, I shot the cloud with my powers. It dissolved, like it had been hurt, until I heard the cloud hiss like the sound of a thousand screeching birds. It took the form of a giant raven, about to speed towards me. I swung my left arm up and a barrier of ice shot up from the ground to shield me. The cloud scattered and reformed all around me into a herd of black stallions with golden eyes, trotting around me in a hostile manner. Making more swinging movements with my arms, a small blizzard wrapped me and exploded into an icy blast, striking each of the horses at the heart and turning them into piles of fresh powdery snow.

But then more black shadows reformed, and they now filled up the sky in a malevolent swirling of black dust. They converged at the center of my vision, forming into a shape of a man... until the clouds dissolved into thin air in a puff of glittering black dust…

As they fell to the ground, they transformed into something white… and something blue. It was a beautiful sight, like the day I thawed the winter in Arendelle. When the snow touched the man that had been frozen into black ice, he thawed instantly, shivering violently and weeping with pure joy because he was alive. The shadows however that came with them, like the ones that took the form of stallions, retreated into a dark murky mist fleeing towards the direction of the North Mountain…

"Hooray for the queen!"

The people behind me broke into a chorus of tears and laughter and cheers, relieved that their queen had saved them all.

"God bless our queen!"

"She saved us all!"

They hugged each other and smiled and wept and… it was a heartbreakingly warm sight that I momentarily forgot the wariness that comes after using my powers. It's been long since I last used my powers for combat… and the last time I did that was when I almost killed the Duke of Weasel Town's* men… I shuddered. That was _not_ something I wanted to remember.

_Elsa…_ I heard something whisper.

I jerked my head in alarm, trying to find the voice that called out to me. It sounded sad… and afraid…

_Elsa…_

The sounds of cheering around me muted to a dull sound. My eyes were transfixed on an area… an empty area, that seemed like there was some invisible something… or someone, beckoning to me… calling out to me…

_Elsa… _It sounded mournful and longing… _Elsa…_

"Who…" I whispered.

_Elsa… _It sounded like it… _he_… was weeping…

_Elsa… I love you…_

"Your majesty!"

I was snapped from my trance when a few castle guards on horseback rushed towards us. They came as soon as they spotted my undisguised form. I sighed. This was a typical scene. Whenever I was gone too long from the castle, they'd be too worried that I'd run off again. Adorably though, they do this not because they'd think that I'd send Arendelle into a second eternal winter. They search for me because the whole staff loves Anna, fearing that my disappearance would shock and hurt her. And right after what just happened, with the whole matter concerning ice in the middle of summer, who wouldn't be alarmed? They're all afraid I might leave again. But I'm not to leave anytime.

"You're majesty!"

"We searched everywhere for you."

"Are you alright?"

Well, maybe except this time.

"Bring me my horse!" I ordered without answering their questions. The guards looked like they'd been hit in the gut, which seemed kind of comical if it was a less pressing situation.

"But, you're majesty! We searched everywhere for you…" one protested.

"Where are you going?" the other asked.

I gazed upon them, raising my head in what Anna liked to call a "queenly" manner. "I will head to the North Mountain to investigate. Those dark shadows probably retreated towards that area and I am to put a stop to them."

"But your majesty, it's dangerous!" one of the guards said, reluctant to hand the reigns of my horse over. "We don't even know what that thing was. Can't we discuss a plan back at the palace?"

"We do not have time." I said a bit irritated that a guard was telling me off… and surprised at the same time. I've never acted this rashly before. "At any time, this… _creature _might return and attack again. I'm the only one with the power to fight it. If I destroy it now, it would end all possible dangers."

"With all due respect your majesty, we don't even know where that thing came from." another said. "I believe we need you more here, where it's safe."

"Please leave the investigation up to the soldiers, your highness." A third one pleaded. "The Princess would be devastated if you have to leave on short notice."

Yes, I knew he was right, but I felt that I needed to go at once. "No. I must go now. I am the Snow Queen, remember? I'm powerful enough to protect this land singlehandedly! Tell Anna I will be alright and I will be home by sundown and that I leave her in charge until then. Now give me my horse!"

I didn't know where my confidence was coming from, and the rational part of me agreed that a plan of action was necessary. But somehow, I felt led to be there. Before this assault even happened, the black frost has already made its appearance to me. _And I know how to destroy it. _Somehow, I feel like this thing is afraid of my magic… is afraid of _me. _Besides, my Ice Castle was there, and I'm worried that Marshmallow might be put to danger.

The guards relented as they warily handed me my horse. One of the guards helped me in mounting the white stallion as I smiled a confident smile at my people. All of them gave me confident grins, cheering as I sped away from the square and into the northern forests. Above all the encouraging voices, I heard Agnes scream her admirations in bubbly octaves.

"Go get 'em Queen Elsa!"

I rode away until the cheers of my people became distant in the background, feeling the summer air fan across my face as the town square swept past me. Heading north, I pulled up a confident smirk as I felt the same freedom I felt when I finally let it go.

"Head to the fjord, boy!" I told my horse. "It's the fastest route to the mountains…"

As soon as my horse set its feet on water, a path of ice began to form for us as we continued to ride north. With greater control over my powers, I made sure that the ice thawed behind us to prevent setting off another untimely winter. With this pace, I was sure to reach my destination in no time.

This is me, the new Elsa… the fearless Elsa. The fearless Queen of Arendelle. And I am about to embark on perhaps the greatest adventure of my life. Preparations for the union ball can wait another day. Those suitors can wait for another day. My love life can wait another day.

Right now, my people come first.

But I needed to make a trip before heading to the North Mountain. I needed to see Kristoff's family. I needed to go to the Valley of Rocks. I needed all the magical help I could get.

* * *

My name is Jack Frost, and I am totally freaking out.

Why? Because I'm looking at a rock with big eyes that were blinking curiously at my own. When I jerked away, groping for my staff (and accidentally pulling Bunny's ears at the process, which is sort of funny if you asked me) more stones rolled together and plopped into what looked like… like ugly-looking smurfs.

They were an odd bunch, with big black eyes and hard looking, moss-covered bodies. What looked creepier was that whenever they blinked, they blinked all at the same time.

"What?" One of them asked with a brow arched up. "Ya'll came here for some love advice?"

I heard North yell something in Russian behind me. He pulled out his twin swords and began yelling a loud battle cry as he ran forward to attack the ugly smurfs. But before he could do that, the rock creatures curled back into stones as loud screeches of fear rung in the air. Sandy pulled out his whip and used it to drag North back. North fell back clumsily (and to my sweet, sweet, delight, he fell on Bunny) as Sandy rolled his eyes, hitting his palm to his head in exasperation. Only then did I notice that I was actually sitting on Tooth's wings when I felt something flutter angrily at my butt and when she was yelling at me to get off.

"Oops! Sorry!" I apologized, finally finding my staff and swinging it beside me. Oops! I hit an about-to-recover Bunnymund by accident. Poor thing.

The rocks uncurled, looking at us cautiously with their big black eyes. I yeard the tinkering sound of Sandy's sand as he waved a timid hello at them. One of the ugly smurfs widened it's eyes in realization...

"It's the Sandman!"

And the whole rock creatures rejoiced.

"You know these ugly smurfs Sandy?" I asked the Sandman with one brow quirked up.

"What's a smurf?" A little rock fellow asked.

"Hey, who're you callin' ugly, sheperd boy?" One female sneered at me.

"N-no one." I lied.

Sandy turned towards us and made sand pictures of trolls abovehead. My head nodded slowly in realization as I gazed upon the ugly smur-I mean-trolls who rolled around the Sandman in excitement.

"Trolls..." I heard tooth murmur. "I always thought they were large fleshy creatures." She cupped her dainty chin with her fingers and continued murmuring. "I wonder if their teeth are made of smooth pebbles..."

"Crikey..." Bunnymund mutrered as he stood while nursing his head. After glaring at me for a moment, he watched the trolls dance around the Sandman in awe until they stopped.

"I can't believe it..." North murmured. "Trolls also exist in part Norway?"

"How do you know we're in Norway?" I asked.

North grinned at me with a knowing look in his eye. "I feel it... in my belly"

Typical.

Another rock rolled towards us 'til it uncurled into an older looking troll. When he saw Sandy, his eyes widened and greeted him with the same fatherly smile I saw in Hickory.

"Sandman... what brings the guardians of Childhood to the Valley of Rocks?" the elder troll asked.

Sandman gestured to all of us, making sand pictures of the stereotype Santa Clause, an easter egg with bunny ears, a tooth with fairy wings, and a snowflake dangling beneath a nose...

Haha... very funny Sandy.

"Oh... so Jack Frost has joined the league of the guardians. It seems that the moon had chosen well." the troll smiled. Turning to the others he made another fatherly smile and greeted them.

"I am honored to meet the legendary , the Easter Bunny, and the Tooth Fairy." he said. "I am Grand Pabbie, the elder troll."

I looked at Sandy showing him my silent question. Well, it wouldn't be a shocker for Sandy to know so many magical creatures since he was the first one called to be a guardian. The question was how this old troll knew us...

"Nice to meet you too." North replied in his jolly tone before he returned to his intimidating self. "But we have questions."

"I understand." Grand Pabbie answered nodding. "A darkness has entered this place when you crossed the rift in time."

"How did you know?" Tooth asked him.

"The moon told me." he answered. "He has helped me predict the dangers of a previous tragedy. And now... a new danger is approaching."

"Wait... we don't get it yet mate." Bunny answered. "Why'd ol' Hickory send us back in time? What's it got to do with the blood moon and the black snow blizzard?"

"More like how's our being here going to help us find Pitch?!" I added.

The troll's eyes dimmed with dread as he looked away from us and toward the trolls. When the other trolls saw his expression, each of them nodded with a knowing look. They curled into balls of stone and rolled away from us until they disappeared from the clearing.

"The Timekeeper has called you to find what caused the Black Snow." Grand Pabbie began when he turned back to us. "Fear once haunted this kingdom in the form of cold and darkness... and with the uprise of a new enemy, fear seeks to gnaw its way to the heart of this kingdom yet again."

"What do you mean? It still doesn't make sense to us!" I said. I was getting more and more frustrated by the minute, getting sick of old farts speaking in riddles. Only then did I notice that the whole forest floor was covered in frost.

"Woah... hold your horses mate. Keep a cool head would ya?" Bunnymund sneered at me as he wriggled his rabbity feet from the frostbite.

I froze. (No pun intended) I didn't mean to freeze anything, but perhaps because I was so worried about Jamie and the Man in the Moon that I temporarily lost control of my powers.

"Jack." Grand Pabbie said as he stared at me with a seriousness I couldn't fathom. "Remember what the Timekeeper said, about the key to thaw the Black Ice. He has not revealed this to me or to any of the other trolls, but he has showed me something else."

He raised his hands in the air and glowing images formed of a woman waving her hands as if she were dancing. Two curved peaks of ice formed on each side of her until it morphed into a giant snowflake above head.

"The queen of Arendelle is a young woman like no other. Like you, Jack, she is a child gifted with the powers of ice and snow."

I gaped. "Wait, what? She's..."

I gazed upon the glowing silhouette of the woman, shock and wonder painting my face. "She's just like me?"

"But different." Pabbie smiled as the images took a different form. It was the castle we sae before while we fell fron the sky. "Last summer, this land had been cursed into an eternal winter because of the fear that gnawed through her heart. Her fear made her lose control of her gift, seeing the beauty that was given her as a curse,"

The images formed into that of the blizzard covering a kingdom. And then a man stood behind that woman, with a sword raised high up into the air about to slash her dead until another girl stood between them and froze, the force of magic knocking the man away.

"But through an act of selfless love, she discovered the key to thawing the eternal winter of Arendelle... she saved the kingdom from her own fears, and is now more powerful than ever before."

The image turned into a woman skating with the girl, and the people around them rejoicing. "She is different, because unlike you Jack, she knows how to thaw a frozen heart..."

And that was when the images dissolved and transformed into the shape of Pitch Black, laughing menacingly.

"The darkness knows that cold and dark come well together... That's why he came to this time, to find someone powerful, but disposable... To have his revenge against the moon... Don't let his power corrupt the queen. She has lived in fear for so long..."

Upon hearing that, I wasted no time. I couldn't stand the riddles anymore. I flew away, ignorning the others who yelled after me. I didn't care nor did I understand Hickory's power, but I was perfectly certain that we were already wasting so much time!

"Jack!" I heard Tooth call from far behind me. "Come back!"

"Jack Frost! You come back this instant!" North roared.

"Drat it mate! Where's he? Where's he?" Bunny growled. They lost sight of me as soon as I left. I heard them follow after but they couldn't find me. I was too fast and the forest was too thick. I swept past different clearings until their voices died. I felt frost coat the barks of trees that I had passed through, shocking many forest animals in the process. My guess I was already pretty far, far away from them.

If Pitch traveled back in time to find this girl who was just like me then... I grit my teeth... I would not let that happen! He just killed the moon and he put Burgess in danger! If this girl is the key then...

_"Stay away!"_

What was that?

"I am not afraid of you!"

"Oh?" A blood curdling voice snickered."But you're powers say otherwise."

I saw shadows and frost coat the remainder of the thickets surrounding me. I cursed under my breath. _I didn't cause this ice._

"Pitch..." I muttered darkly.

I hurriedly flew towards the nearest clearing I saw, where I heard the voices. When I came nearer, I felt a stab of an abnormal winter air slice through the forests, almost like sword slashing. I sped faster and faster as voices of a struggle became more distinct that it sounded as if the voices were in my head.

"Stay away!" A zapping sound. "I said stay away!" Another zapping sound.

"You are no match for me your majesty!" A sinister laugh. "Your fear, I must say, is the sweetest I've savored in such a long time!"

Another zapping sound. One stray blast barely missed me. I dodged. When I touched the damage by the bark, I felt a cold dance through my fingertips. Then I charged, hoping to find a jet black haired woman and the boogey man battling it out.

But instead, I found an empty clearing with a girl with platinum blond hair, wearing a brown peasant's dress and a pale brown bonnet around her head, lying across the meadow as if in a peaceful slumber. Surrounding her was a bunch of red roses fashioned like the edges of a bed, with her olive green cloak as a sheet. That's when I panicked. Was I too late?

I rushed towards her and felt the pulse at her neck. When I felt that she was alive, I sighed in relief. Darn... I knew Pitch was here! I feel it in my gut...

The young woman began to stir and groan. Only then did I notice that the woman's cheeks were flushed and that her eyes began to flatter open. I hadn't known many girls in my 300 years stuck as a teen, but I had to say, of all the girls I met, this girl was by far the most beauti-

Wait. Bad Jack! Bad Jack! You don't think about those things in the presence of an unconscious woman!

"Who are you?"

I snapped back from my momentary trance. I felt my already cold temperature drop menacingly lower as I stared at a pair of crystal blue eyes stare at my own.

"Uhm... Hi?"

And then a really loud scream.

* * *

A/N: Finally! Haha! This was a pretty long chapter wasn't it?

I wonder what would happen next? Hmmm...

*Elsa said Weasel Town instead of Weselton on purpose.

Again please read and review! Constructive criticism is welcome! Just so you know I don't write fast paced stories. But I don't drag stories too long either. My guess this will be a twenty-something chapter. Tell me if you think otherwise! :)

The question is still up. Who wins a fight? Oaken, or North?


	6. Chapter 5: Hair as Black as Ebony

Yay! Update! Again, I would like to thank everyone who read, reviewed, faved, and followed this fic! Like I said, I might upload chapters once or twice a week... And wohoo! They finally meet in this chappie, yay!

Also, I have added a brand new POV. Please tell me if you'd like to see more of this character's POV in the next chapters. This chapter happens to be shorter than the previous one... but hey, it serves its purpose. (Which means longer succeeding chapters)

I also leave you a promise that… THE NEXT CHAPTER IS GOING TO HAVE JELSA FLUFF (Hah! Spoiler!) But this one… eh… a little bit, I guess.

Reviews are a great motivation to the aspiring writer. Don't you agree?

**Disclaimer: My name is not William Joyce. Hans Christian Andersen is not my brain. I do not have a company named Disney or DreamWorks. All I own is the idea of this fic and the account I have in FF.**

* * *

**Chapter 5: Hair as Black as Ebony**

My name is Anna, and I am the Princess of Arendelle!

"Elsa's gone! What am I gonna do? What am I gonna do?"

And this is me, pacing around the queen's office as I calmly and carefully plan out my next course of action in my princess-y manner.

"KRISTOFF WHAT AM I GOING TO DO?!" I held unto the collar of his shirt, staring at his big brown eyes.

"C'mon Anna," he rolled his eyes as he unclasped my hold on his shirt. "It's not like your sister can't handle herself. Besides, I don't think she's ready to meet your Count Dracula yet."

"Who's Count Dracula?" I heard Olaf ask while he entered the office.

"The fancy pale guy who's name is hard to pronounce." Kristoff smirked, crossing his arms.

"No it's not!" I said while placing my hands on my hips.

"Well then say it." Kristoff challenged.

"Well... It sounds like..." I pouted my lips in deep thought. I know it sounded like some sort of utensil or something. "Like.. Ah! Bah! Whatever!"

Olaf gave me a confused look. "His name is Aba Whatever?"

"Not even close." Kristoff answered smugly.

"Elsa has to be here, NOW! I mean what if she starts getting all depressed and leaves again? What if something happens to her like some guy with dark scary voodoo follows her and-" I gasped. "What if some sorcerer tries to ABDUCT her?!"

"No need to get so paranoid Anna." Kristoff said as he held me by my shoulders. "Your sister is like, Arendelle's one and only powerful Snow Queen. If some dark and devious somebody would want to get a piece of her, they'd find themselves walking on thin ice!"

I sighed. Kristoff was right.

"I'm just... a little scared." I said. I took a seat by Elsa's nearby couch and stared at the window that overlooked all of Arendelle. "Sometimes I worry about whether or not the past months were just good dreams. It's been so long since Elsa began letting me in... I'm worried she'd start to shut herself out again by hiding herself away. And with the stress I'm adding up with all these royal blind dates, I think she's making up excuses to ignore me."

Kristoff let out an exasperated sigh. "Elsa isn't trying to get away from you, alright? Maybe she just wants to get out. I think the Queen business doesn't have any summer vacations so she might be looking for one."

"Besides, summer's a good time to go on vacation! It's already a 30% discount for swimsuits at Wandering Oaken's Trading Post and Sauna with free lutefisk!" Olaf added with cheerful waves of his stick arms.

I sighed, giving Olaf my warmest of smiles. "Well, Arendelle is very beautiful this time of year."

We were all silent for a while until Kristoff pointed at Arendelle's view by the window. "What is that?"

I followed his gaze and saw a red comet falling from the sky. When it hit the ground a mild earthquake followed, and five fireworks exploded into the shapes of three men, a fairy, and a kangaroo.

"I don't know."

Then a black cloud began to zoom towards the square.

"No." I breathed. "Elsa."

"I'll go find her." Kristoff said, sensing my worry.

"Please," I told him with a plea in my eyes. "That thing looks dangerous."

He nodded then proceeded out of the room. Olaf walked near me and held my hand with his.

"Don't worry Anna. Elsa's a strong person."

"I know." I said. "I'm more worried about Arendelle."

* * *

My name is Elsa, and I am in danger.

While I headed towards the valley of rocks, I made an unexpected encounter with my recent enemy. My horse halted abruptly as we were only a few beats away from the trolls when we saw the dark cloud appear above us. I tumbled forward, instinctively blasting snow on the ground to cushion my fall.

"Ow!" That hurt, nonetheless. "Boy, come back!"

But the horse already ran away. Snapping my head towards the cloud descending in front of me, I was shocked to see that it was taking the form of... of a man with silver... no, gold eyes. I couldn't tell because the color changed whenever the light caught on it. He had a sharp chin and sharp teeth, with hair that spiked up like dark flames. His skin was grey, like ash and he wore a dark cloak that seemed to be tailored from shadows... And the sight of him gave me chills up and down my spine.

"Hello your majesty." he greeted me wearing a sinister smile. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you."

"Who are you?" I asked. I was shocked to hear the tremble in my voice. I was aware that frost was already coating the clearing, bearing evidence of my fear. "What do you want from me?"

"What do I want from you?" he echoed with amusement in his eyes. "Perhaps the question is... What would _you _want from _me?"_

"You were the one who caused the black frost in Arendelle... Weren't you?!" I asked him, ignoring his rather confusing question.

"Not only are you beautiful but also smart." he beamed sarcastically. "Well done, your majesty."

"You harmed my people!" I sneered.

"Oh, that was just a little entrance. Not much harm done at all." he said, looking slightly offended. Slightly.

"You froze one of my people!" I hissed, readying a battle stance.

He looked genuinely shocked. "Really now? I wonder how that happened."

He took a slow step toward me and shadows began to puff behind him. His eyes shifted from deadly silver to a menacing ocher gold, shining as the clouds blocked the afternoon sun.

"Stay away!" I screamed.

I narrowed my eyes at him, aware of the black, golden-eyed stallions swirling viciously around us. A small flurry of snow began to swirl within my palms, feeling the power course through my body as fear and courage began to battle for control within me.

"I'm not afraid of you!" I said, trying to fight the storm inside of me.

"Oh? But your powers say otherwise." He said, eyeing my raised hands with a knowing smirk. The shadows merged with the frost that coated the clearing. I became furious at the sight, so I zapped the stuff with my ice magic… and it exploded into dusts of white and blue glitter.

The man looked horrified until a wicked smile sketched across his face. He morphed a giant scythe from the shadows and tried to strike me with it.

"Stay away!" I threatened, zapping him with my powers and yet missing. "I said stay away!"

I raised my hands up in the air and a rain of icicles descended upon him. He spun his scythe above head and the ice transformed into puffs of glittering black dust. I felt blood drain from my face.

How could that possibly have happened?! He could cancel my magic as I could cancel his…

"You are no match for me your majesty!" he laughed, and it echoed throughout the forests in that insulting evil manner. "Your fear, I must say, is the sweetest I've savored in such a long time!"

I zapped more of my magic, barely even hitting him. The trees around us began to freeze and decay with the fight that ensued between us. All the while he was smirking annoyingly. So this was all a game to him while I was warring against the fear inside of me.

Why was I so afraid?

Fear… Fear! I get it!

He could cancel my magic because I was afraid. At least, that's what I think. I had to be brave enough to face him… I had to think about Anna… about Arendelle… about Mama and Papa…

I closed my eyes, relaxing my arms as a cool breeze began to swirl around me. The forests around us rustled and the dark horses dissolved into the shadows, retreating as a silent breeze swept passed them. The wind didn't shake much of my surroundings, but it had created a concentrated storm that glimmered in blue and white lights, destroying every form of darkness around me. The man looked terrified as he retreated into the darkness of the thickets, and for the first time in a long time, I felt the satisfaction of victory fill my heart knowing I didn't lose.

But when I opened my eyes, I felt… weak. I felt a drowsiness I couldn't understand… I felt… so… drained…

The last thing I saw was a boy with hair as black as ebony, aiding my fall… with a worried look in his eyes… there were tears… scarlet tears…

_Elsa…_

_Elsa…_

_I love you…_

_Be careful…_

_He's watching you... She's watching you…_

* * *

My name is Jack Frost, and someone just saw me.

"Who are you?"

And I am leaning on that someone now. I never meant to. I was only trying to feel for her pulse after all... Until I noticed she was actually really pretty.

Well, pretty is actually a poor word to describe her. She was beauti-

"Eeek!" SLAP! Ow!

"Queen Elsa!"

She's a queen?

A voice got both our attention, followed by a clip-clopping sound. A man on horseback probably. As soon as the girl averted her gaze from me, I shot towards the sky and hid above the branches of a tall tree nearby. She snapped her head back to where I was only to find no one there.

"Queen Elsa!" A man with thick blond hair and big brown eyes riding on a reindeer came, sliding off his ride and running towards the girl. "Are you alright? I heard you scream! Are you hurt?"

"Christopher?.." she murmured, eyes wide with confusion and shock. "I… I'm fine... I just..."

She scanned the area again with cautious eyes. "I thought there was someone else here."

"Uhm it's Kristoff, your majesty." He corrected. "I heard about what happened in the square. They said you fought a cloud that covered the houses in black ice and that you rode here on your own. Anna… I mean, the princess has been worried sick of you."

"I was…" I saw her search the clearing with her eyes, then noticed the red roses that surrounded her make-shift bed. She then looked at Kristoff with a regal expression befitting her title. "I was on my way to the Valley of Rocks…"

"That's what the guards told me, your highness." He said as he assisted her standing up. Her brown bonnet fell to the ground, freeing her locks from its braid as it fell across her shoulders in soft messy waves. "I came as soon as I could. I'm glad Sven's a fast runner."

He titled his head towards the reindeer who nodded proudly at the young woman.

"You look like you've been through a fight, your majesty." Kristoff observed worriedly, eyeing her messy hair and soiled peasant clothes. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." She answered. She looked up at the bough where I hid. I gulped, quickly and quietly flying to another branch so that she wouldn't spot me.

I still can't believe she could see me. Let alone slap me in the face.

Turning to Kristoff she smiled, picking up her bonnet and wearing it on her head. "I had an encounter with the black cloud along the way. Apparently it was actually a man, probably a dark sorcerer of some sort." Her eyes narrowed. "He meant to harm me. But I don't know what his intentions were. But he's gone now… and I guess I fell unconscious because of wariness."

I knew it. Pitch was here, and he has figured out a way to use ice powers. But how? Does that mean this girl is…

Kristoff looked like he turned pale. He scratched his head and looked like he was trying to hide an inside joke.

"Uhm… for Princess Anna's sake, your majesty, allow me to assist you on your way to Grand Pabbie." He said with a determined expression.

"Thank you, but I can handle myself fine on my own." she answered.

"Well, I know you can your majesty." He answered, looking a bit uneasy and nervous. "But I don't think it would make Anna, I mean, the princess feel better if you left without company."

The girl turned to him. I couldn't see her expression because her back was to me. "Just call me Elsa. A friend of Anna's is also a friend of mine. I told you that many times before."

"Of course, your majesty… I mean Elsa." He chuckled as he scratched his head. "But I think I really have to come with you. I was also meaning to visit Grand Pabbie and the others today."

"Very well." She answered. "Please take me to the trolls."

When I leaned to get a better look at them, I snapped a twig and got her attention. She snapped her head towards my direction, but I hid from view just in time. Whew!

Wait, if they're going to meet the trolls… and this Elsa could see me, then…

Oh no.

I ignored their gasps of surprise when a cold wind swooped across the clearing. I had to get back to the Valley of Ugly Smurfs. And fast!

I think I found the Snow Queen.


	7. Chapter 6: The Scarlet Prophecy

First I would like to apologize in advance. What I said in the previous chapter will happen in the next chapter cause.. well this chapter just dragged a bit too long so I had to cut it in two. -.-

Okay so this chapter is pretty long… but it's for a good reason. This'll explain some things concerning the earlier chapters and give birth to newer mysteries… ooh!

I actually forgot to credit the marvelously talented group called Screen Junkies who made a funny parody trailer of Frozen. That's where I got the idea of calling the trolls 'ugly smurfs'. I'll post the link on my profile the next time I log in. Though I do remember seeing the video on 9Gag... ugh! I have a weak memory… sigh. I would like to thank **Sailor Fayth 09 **for her review that reminded me to credit these geniuses!

Also, this fan fiction involves themes and characters from Joyce's Guardians of Childhood books. I haven't actually read them, and I'm merely relying on Wikipedia for information. Well, this is a minor thing since it's a Jelsa fic after all.

R&R please and thank you!

* * *

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Guardians of Childhood. Nor do I own the Arendelle Royal Family. I do wish that I owned William Joyce's brain in thinking up ROTG. And also... Nightlight belongs to him too. :)**

**Chapter 6: The Scarlet Prophecy**

"Crikey."

Bunnymund threw his boomerang far only for it to return in his grasp. It narrowly missed a male troll in the head. Though the little creature muttered obscenities at the mighty Pooka, he couldn't care less. He was downright pissed. He was pissed at the mischievous winter spirit who left their company without warning.

Well, the guy's nature was that of delinquency and spontaneity. So he and the rest of the guardians of childhood resigned to sitting it out with the troll rocks, watching the steam rise from the holes in the surrounding area. There was no point in running after the vivacious guardian of fun. He would only come back to them in a heartbeat. And he'd only probably receive a good beating in the end.

Well now, Bunnymund loved the thought of that.

"Sorry," Tooth smiled warily at the eldest troll. "Jack's very straightforward most of the time. He's just worried about his first believer Jamie is all."

"I understand," the eldest troll smiled. "But I'd like to warn you that there are many believers in this time and place. Some unwanted attention might cause inconveniences in your journey. I suggest you wear these crystals forged by the troll folk…"

Grand Pabbie placed his hands together and began bending light, until five crystal necklaces morphed on his palms. He handed each one of the guardians a necklace which was made of the same material as the crystals they wore on their necks, except each one had the mark of the guardian as a pendant.

"Here," Pabbie said as he handed them out. "The red one for Santa, the pink one for the Tooth Fairy, the green one for the Easter Bunny, the yellow one for the sandman, and the blue one for the winter spirit. When you wear them, you will appear as mere humans to the mortal observer, and you can only use a limited amount of your power for safety's sake."

Each of the guardians took their pendants but was quite reluctant to wear them just yet. North took the necklace meant for Jack for safe keeping.

"The moon has told me that the folk of your time believed less in the extraordinary. Is that true?" the elder troll asked with curious eyes.

"Aye." North answered. "Sometimes we find it hard to bring back the wonder in children who see the world as a cruel place."

"He's right." Tooth agreed as she fluttered down to stand on the ground. A sad smile graced her lips as her purple eyes met with the other trolls. "We had millions more believers during this time period. But at our time, after wars and disputes and modernization, they all just gradually dwindled."

At this North froze and looked like he aged five years. He sat down beside a stone and cupped his forehead. Sandman looked at him sadly then gazed away.

Bunnymund didn't fail to see the distress evident between the two guardians. He gritted his teeth and narrowed his green eyes suspiciously. Tooth looked at him with the same confusion and suspicion in her eyes. The both of them knew that Sandy and North knew something the rest of the guardians didn't, and they were aching to figure it out.

"Nicholas." Grand Pabbie called, referring to North. North actually jumped when the elder troll called him, with shock painting his deep blue eyes. The troll chuckled knowingly and patted a younger troll gingerly on the head in loving affection. "I reckon… no one has called you that for a long time?"

"No." the Russian said, shrugging his shoulders and waving the matter off as he replied in his happy rugged accent. "But, I figured everyone knows about it."

"There are many things that the moon has told me," the elder troll went on. "But he did not have the time to explain the things that confuse me the most. He told me I should ask you… about why I saw the Lunanoff Prince die and never return."

Tooth and Bunnymund gasped. They never heard of that name before, but they knew very well that the troll was referring to the man in the moon himself. The tooth fairy and the Easter bunny looked to North who to them stood as their leader… But all they saw was Father Christmas in his most depressed state, the wonder in his eyes dull and seemingly gone. Bunnymund raised his brows… this was not the jolly, bellyful of yuletide cheer that he knew.

"North," Bunnymund glared at him, fed up with the secrets surrounding their group. "What aren't you telling us mate?"

North eyed each one warily, to Sandy most of all. Sandman smiled a sad smile and made two thumbs up as a sign for him to carry on. He let out a deep breath and stood to his full height, acknowledging everyone with his blue resolve as he began the story."

"In the Guardian handbook, there is prophesy about dwindling of believers." He said. "Last year… well, year 2012 when Pitch returned, I thought that prophesy was beginning. But Man in Moon chose Jack Frost to fight fear, and so the prophesy, as I believed, was over."

The trolls around them began murmuring excitedly at the start of a story being told. They sat around North as campers would around a fire, with some little ones munching off pebbles like they were popcorn. Tooth observed them cautiously before returning her full attention to the red giant.

"But there is second part of prophesy," he continued "about the end… of all hopes, and dreams, and wonder, and joy… when Nightmare King will bring vengeance and fear to completion!" North held out his hand and counted two fingers. "There are two signs! One is red moon… the other black ice!"

The trolls gasped, some little ones cowering in fear, others choosing to take shelter behind the Pooka. Bunnymund himself who was naturally fearless began to shudder, the chills crawling up and down his spine.

"The Guardian handbook says… _Upon the wake of the blood moon follows the end… Ice and Dark will merge together… and fear and sorrow will reign forever…_"

Another gasp, another shudder… and then North looked upon them all, a twinkle of wonder returning in his big blue eyes.

"_But hope will come… yes hope indeed. One clad in black and white, riding on the moonlight… one to destroy, one to rebuild. And only one will stand…"_

"Wait, wait, wait, who's this fella clad in black and white?" Bunnymund asked, intervening with North's story. "If this fella's the key, what are we doin' here dealing with some snow princess? We should 'ave been looking for this chap already, mate!"

"Bunny, let North finish." Tooth scolded.

"Ah, ah, ah." North said, waving his finger. "There's more. _The answer lies within the key… the key that thawed the frozen heart, found a breath of time away, for fear to flee and love to start…"_

"Love to start?" Bunnymund repeated, a tone of disgust lingering on his tongue. "The prophesy doesn't even make sense."

"What does that even mean?" Tooth wondered.

"It means the end is coming." Grand Pabbie answered her. "Just as the moon told me, though not clearly… And he is saying that the Queen of Arendelle is the key."

"What about the fella clad in black and white?" Bunnymund asked.

"Yeah, Santa, what about the fellow in black and white?" echoed the younger trolls.

"That is the mystery we are yet to solve." North answered them all. "I suspect that the 'One' doesn't refer to person. Perhaps a collaboration?"

"Makes sense?" Tooth wondered.

"Perhaps white refers to Jack Frost." North murmured.

Bunnymund snorted while Tooth sighed dreamily.

"And the black refers to Queen." the Russian smiled knowingly.

But Grand Pabbie gave the guardians a confused look. "What do you mean?"

North shrugged then folded his tattoo filled arms. "Well, Hickory showed us picture of Snow Queen. With the black hair and everything… she even has black snow powers no? Maybe she is key and Pitch is probably after her too."

Tooth, Bunnymund, Sandman, and North's reassured stances faltered at the elder troll's response.

"But the queen doesn't have black hair… let alone black snow powers."

* * *

My name is Elsa… and I am feeling woozy.

I don't recall much of the last seconds before I fainted. All I know is that I felt very… confident in some way, that I knew I could defeat the man clad in shadows. I never even knew his name, let alone his motives. But he was obviously evil, and he meant to harm Arendelle… But why?

"_Perhaps the question is… what would _you _want from me?"_

That was what he said. What would I want from him? What does he mean?

"_Your powers say otherwise…"_

He knew… he knew what I was capable of. He knew I couldn't control it whenever I'm afraid.

After the torrent of power that rushed out of me, the last thing I could recall was this boy… who seemed to have appeared out of nowhere. He caught me as I fell. His arms were cold, his skin was… _pale_, like ivory. And he had black hair… that was all I could remember. Everything was a blur…

And oh, yeah. He was crying tears of blood. Such a thing should have scared me but… all I felt before I fainted was… sorrow… and longing.

_Elsa, I love you. _The voice was a low baritone, filled with love… and urgency. Only my fatigue caused the words to slur against each other.

_He's watching you… She's watching you…_

I knew the boy said something else. I wanted to ask his name, but no words came out. I tried so hard, but the pool of darkness just seemed to crush me to unconsciousness…

Who's he? Who's she? Who's watching over me?

So I had to fight it. I had to fight the darkness. I wanted to know who that boy was. He kept saying he loved me… and somehow I thought I heard his voice earlier that day.

Come on! Wake up! Please! I want to know… I want to know… I want to know who this boy is…

"Mmf…" I groaned. I felt the light return from the corner of my eyes. How much time had already passed? I assumed it was still in the middle of the afternoon, but I couldn't tell because a boy leaning over me was obscuring the sun from view.

Wait. What?

"Who are you?"

My alertness gave me enough wits to memorize the boy's face. He had unruly snow white hair, pale wintry skin and deep blue eyes. He was leaning on top of me in the same way I remembered the black haired boy did when he caught me. We stared at each other for a couple of seconds until I realized how alarmingly inappropriate our proximity was.

So I did what every calm and collected queen was supposed to do. I screamed.

Then I slapped him.

"Ow!" he said. I was about to zap him to oblivion when I heard a familiar voice.

"Queen Elsa!"

I snapped my head towards the direction of the voice. I tried hard not to panic, but all I could think about was me and this boy in this embarrassingly compromising position. If someone from Arendelle saw me like this… my dress soiled, lying in what seemed to be like… a bed of roses? Oh no… I don't remember this… what exactly happened? Never before had I felt my wits scramble like this… because when I snapped my head back at the boy, he disappeared.

_Where did he…_

"Queen Elsa!"

Anna's boyfriend shot through the thickets riding on his reindeer. He slid off his ride upon seeing me and rushed to my side. "Are you alright? I heard you scream! Are you hurt?"

"Christopher?" I murmured. I'm pretty sure his name wasn't Christopher, but I knew it sounded like so. My mind was too muddled for me to remember his name. "I, I'm fine… I just… I thought there was someone else here…"

"Uhm it's Kristoff, your majesty." He corrected, scratching his head. "I heard about what happened in the square. They said you fought a cloud that covered the houses in black ice and that you rode here on your own. Anna… I mean, the princess has been worried sick of you."

"I was…" I couldn't register what he was saying because I was still so shocked… and confused. I was now sitting up from this… suspicious looking make-shift bed and scanned the area to find the boy. But he was nowhere to be seen. I looked back warily at my bed again and… shuddered. I'm only glad Anna's boyfriend came as soon as possible or else someone might have taken advantage of me while I was knocked out. Maybe the boy was just my imagination but… no way… I even managed to slap him!

Seeing that Kristoff was still waiting for my answer, I gradually regained my composure and smiled in reassurance. "I was on my way to the Valley of Rocks…"

"That's what the guards told me, your highness." He said as he aided me in standing up. The bonnet I wore tumbled out of place and freed my locks from its braids. I tried not to be embarrassed about this, and I also tried not to think about my appearance now… Thankfully he tilted is head towards his reindeer, enough time for me to at least do a quick tidying-up with my hair. "I came as soon as I could. I'm glad Sven's a fast runner."

A couple of seconds made me realize that Kristoff just said that the guards knew I was on my way to the Valley of Rocks when I point blankly told them that I was headed up the North Mountain. I would make inquiry with them later on how they knew about this. Right now, my mind was someplace else.

"You look like you've been through a fight, your majesty." Kristoff observed with a worried look in his eyes. I tried not to look uncomfortable under his gaze. He doesn't know about my peasant disguises, let alone do I let any man see me looking helpless and common and with dirtied clothes. "Are you alright."

"I'm fine." I answered quite absently. I scanned the parameters again, trying to think of a softened version of the events that happened before. I was well aware that whatever I told Kristoff now would be reported back to Anna word for word…

I felt some movement at the bough above me. Maybe it was my imagination, but I thought I saw the boy from before staring at us from the top of that tree. When I blinked though, there was nothing but a shaking branch and some leaves falling from the canopies.

I smiled at Kristoff and gingerly picked up the bonnet. I replaced it on my head and neatened my hair by brushing it off to the side. "I had an encounter with the black cloud along the way. Apparently it was actually a man, probably a dark sorcerer of some sort. He meant to harm me. I don't know what his intentions were. But he's gone now… and I guess I fell unconscious because of wariness."

I felt my voice trail off. I still don't understand how I could have fainted just because I used my powers. I know very well what I was capable of, but being that much drained because of my powers was just much too impossible to happen. I could build ice castles and give life to snowmen in a heartbeat. I even caused a blizzard in Arendelle the year before… so how could I have fainted with just that?

Maybe it's because I normally don't use my powers for combat… I sighed quietly. But I'm sure that's not the reason why…

There's still this black haired boy… and this _other_ white haired boy…

I looked back at Kristoff who didn't answer for a couple of seconds. He looked like he had been beaten at a bet or something as he scratched his head and laughed sheepishly.

"Uhm… for Princess Anna's sake, your majesty," he said as he regained his buff, mountain-man composure. "Allow me to assist you on your way to Grand Pabbie."

"Thank you, but I can handle myself fine on my own." I answered with a smile.

"Well, I know you can your majesty. But I don't think it would make Anna, I mean, the princess feel better if you left without company."

He looked a bit uneasy and nervous. My guess was that he'd earn a great deal of nagging from Anna if he didn't come with me. I giggled at the thought.

"Just call me Elsa. A friend of Anna's is also a friend of mine. I told you that many times before." I told him wearing the gentlest smile I could muster when all I could think about was convincing him not to come with me.

He looked taken aback by what I said until he just scratched his head and chuckled.

"Of course, your majesty… I mean Elsa." he smiled. "But I think I really have to come with you. I was also meaning to visit Grand Pabbie and the others today."

I tried to hide my disappointment when he said those words. But no matter. I guess it really couldn't be helped.

"Very well. Please take me to the trolls."

The sound of a twig snapping got my attention. I jerked my view at the tree behind me, but I found nothing. I grew cautious of my surroundings, seeing if the man clad in shadows might have returned.

But no man draped in darkness appeared. Instead, I heard from the far distance a deep baritone voice echo to the skies.

"HEY WIND! TAKE ME TO THE UGLY SMURFS!"

Then a cool and strong gale swooped past the clearing towards the direction of the Valley of Rocks.

"Woah!" I heard Kristoff say. "What was THAT?!"

"Did, did you hear that?" I asked him, shielding my face from the strong winds.

Kristoff nodded. We rushed to his reindeer Sven and rode, with him riding upfront and me behind. Leaning forward, Kristoff gave Sven the order to move.

"Take us to Grand Pabbie Sven! GO!"

Then we shot through the forests, towards where the unnatural wind led us.

* * *

My name is Jack Frost, and I am flying for my life.

Apparently, not only could these guys see me… they could actually _hear _me too. I mean, come on! Call upon the winds like nobody was listening… of course! You spent your last 300 years wanting to be seen and heard… and now that you _wanted_ to be invisible for the first time in your life, you go screaming to the skies like you owned the darned place.

Good job Jack. Bravo.

Well, we were all headed to the same direction anyways, and it's not like I have to hide from them or anything…

Until I hear the haunting words of North in my head

"_Part of Guardian Rulebook… Do not be seen by human or else…" _And then that slicing your head gesture came into view in that wonderfully vivid imagination of mine.

Again, Jack. Good job!

I am so totally doomed.

But since I am the Spirit of Winter and the Guardian of Fun, I've been through tougher situations that didn't end very badly (exclude being at the mercy of Phil in Mission: Break into Santa's Workshop.) Besides, my winds were faster than that reindeer, and in no time, I was descending from the skies like a missile and was already standing on troll territory.

And of course I was greeted by an angry Russian, a vicious bunny rabbit, a pouting fairy, and a scowling sandman with raised brows and crossed arms.

"Where were you for the last thirty minutes mate?" Bunnymund began in is deadly undertone Australian accent.

"Come on Buunny, I'm sure Jack has a very reasonable explanation." Tooth smiled cheerfully, tough a suspiciously dark aura seemed to dawn in her sweet hummingbird-y features. "Right Jack?"

"As a matter of fact I do." I said, not meeting everyone's eyes. I didn't fail to notice that the trolls surrounded us too with the same look of disdain their eyes.

"And what would that be, Jack Frost?" North asked me in his threatening guttery voice.

"I found the Snow Queen." I said, shrugging my shoulders non-chalantly.

They all nodded their heads like the news was nothing… until their eyes looked like they were about to pop out of their sockets.

"Where?"

"When?"

"How?"

Tooth, North and Bunny asked me all at the same time, with Sandy just managing a giant question mark on his head. I broke into a cold nervous sweat. Well, explaining this to them was the hard part.

"Well, when I just rudely went off, I heard a fight ensue from the clearing down south." I began, scratching my neck uncomfortably at seeing their expectant gazes. "I heard her… and Pitch too. They were fighting."

I was expecting them to say, 'did you fight the guy off too?' or 'did you manage to convince the queen to get on our side?' or something like that. Instead, all I got from them was:

"What did she look like?" Tooth asked suddenly.

"I'm sorry, what?" I asked confusedly.

"What did she look like mate?" Bunnymund repeated the question.

Uhm, how do I say this without sounding awkward?

"She looked… kind of cute?"

There, I felt color waft through my cheeks. I didn't know if that was even possible, seeing that I was once dead and everything. But I was practically embarrassed with that confession.

I was shocked at their expression though. They all groaned like I said something wrong.

"No, we meant hair color, skin and everything!" Bunnymund said, his eyes wide with impatience.

"Was she really cute Jack?" Tooth asked, not looking convinced and batting her eyes in a way that seemed like she was about to cry.

"Come one Jack, what did she really look like?"

Okay, the guys were acting really weird since the last thirty minutes I was away.

"Uhm, she's a platinum blonde. Fair skin, blue eyes, yay high, a bit on the slim and petite side..." I described for them. "What else do you want to know?"

They all shook their heads in defeat. North stroked his chin in deep thought then smiled to himself.

"Well, maybe we might be looking for different person."

"But the moon told me that she is the one you are looking for." Grand Pabbie argued. I didn't understand what he was arguing about.

"Well, she doesn't have black hair, which means she ain't the girl Hick showed us." Bunnymund told off the old troll. "We could be dealing with an 'whole different force 'ere, mate. This mission is getting' more and more confusin' by the minute."

"Come on guys. Grand Pabbie said the Man in the Moon of this time told him so." Tooth countered Bunny in her gentle tone. "Maybe this girl really is the key. Maybe the girl we saw in Hickory's vision is her possible future. Besides, we saw the girl was with Pitch in that vision, remember?"

"Wait, guys, guys…" I intruded, placing myself between them. "What are you talking about? I don't actually get it."

"You could've gotten it if you hadn't rudely left." Bunnymund sneered at me. This kangaroo is definitely having some issues.

"Okay, it doesn't matter." I said while pinching the bridge of my nose in exasperation. "What's more important is that she's already on her way here… now." I left out the part where she actually saw and heard me and told them about how she said she was coming here with a mountain man named Kristoff.

Everyone seemed to freeze in place when I told them this. The troll rocks just blinked and shrugged, curling into balls of stone to show their fake indifference to the matter. Grand Pabbie eyed us warily and gently shook his head.

"I believe I would need you guardians to hide, for a while." He said. "I'd like you to observe what I am about to tell the queen. And extraordinary visitors might unsettle her after getting into a fight with the shadows. Her powers are… quite unpredictable. Besides, we don't want our Kristoff getting excited with meeting some of his childhood heroes."

I wanted to protest when North suddenly grabbed me by the waist and carried me on his shoulder. "Hey!"

"Shush Jack Frost!" he scolded me. "We do what Pabbie says."

And soon the five of us were hidden behind a big rock and a cloud of steam.

* * *

**A/N**: Again, I am sooo sorry. I know I said they were supposed to meet in this chapter but... I wanted some points to connect. I realized I'm not that fast paced when it comes to plot progression. -.-

No wonder someone unfaved this fic. But it's fine, ehehe *shrugs* I write for fun, not for fame.

Anyway as a spoiler, the next chappie brings us back to Arendelle castle. And a look at our villainsssss...


	8. Chapter 7: Songs Sang in the Dark

I am not a very big fan of fics that have musicals in them... But I have to stand true to what I said in the summary. THERE WILL BE SINGING IN THIS CHAPTER. And for those who are not big fans of musical fics like me, I will try to deliver it in the least corny way as possible. :)

The lyrics of Elsa's song "What makes a man a man" is my composition. I wish I could record the tune and post it somewhere in the cyberworld but I'm too shy to do it. (And I have a very average type of voice -.-)

I would like to point out that some characters here are loosely based on the Guardians of Childhood... meaning I don't have any OCs in this chapter... at all

And... yipee! This is the chapter we've been all waiting for! (Finally!)

**Disclaimer: Yeah right. Like the previous disclaimers don't prove I don't own anything except this plot bunny. Sheesh...**

* * *

**Chapter 7: Songs Sang in the Dark**

_I see her..._

Her hair swept through the air like black clouds. The winds followed her through her every beck and call, and because she bore that long regal face beffiting of an earthen queen, she was dubbed the Mother of all Nature. Her eyes resembled that of an eclipse, much like the hero of the Golden Ages... the hero who _fell... _The one who she believed was far beyond saving...

It was the night before the winter spirit's anniversary. Though she was not part of the Assembly of Guardians, being the neutral party that she was between good and evil, she was apparently invited. Strange... why would Nicholas St. North bother letting her meet the Winter Spirit who stole her role in the coming of the cold seasons?

What intrigued her was the presence of the black blizzard in the spirit's hometown... And by then her vision suddenly went black.

The course of history had been changed. Or rather, the predestined disturbance in time had finally taken place.

And the fruit was another entity... another victim of a frozen heart was about to replace her.

A woman was to replace her in her "once-hero's" heart.

The worst part was... she looked just like her mother. Except this girl had pale hair... and her mother had hair black as ebony, just as she had hair dark as the night sky.

So... Pitch Black has found himself _another Katherine..._

_I will destroy you father... you are far beyond saving!_

_And I will not have you replace me with her!_

* * *

My name is Elsa, and I am riding on a reindeer with Anna's boyfriend.

I don't know why I feel awkward… Maybe it's my many years of isolation that's causing me to feel this way, or maybe it's because I'm riding a reindeer with my sister's man that's making me feel all… uncomfortable. I guess this is what years of living in fear would do to a person, making even the most casual of physical contact with a guy very disturbing. I wanted to jump off Sven and just slide through ice or something. And being with Kristoff just reminds me of the fact that he might take Anna away from me one day…

Stop it Elsa… stop thinking about these things!

"Your highness, are you cold?" Kristoff asked over his shoulder.

"N-no..." I murmured. "Sorry. That's just the nerves doing it… and please stop calling me 'your highness."

"Right, Elsa, sorry." Kristoff apologized. "We'll be okay, don't worry. We're only a couple of hoofs away."

Indeed we were. We were already passing through the mists that signaled how close we were. We stopped at a stony clearing, all rocks covered in moss which were, in reality, magical troll rocks that plopped to life whenever visitors came asking for love advice or magical help. Few people know about them, being the Arendelle Royal Family, presumably some outlanders, and Kristoff whom they adopted as a kid.

I slid down from Sven as soon as we stopped. Kristoff gave me a weird confused look, then tried to smell his armpits in what he thought was an unnoticeable manner. It's not that he didn't smell nice or anything… but I just couldn't stand being physically close to people.

Maybe it's because most of the time, I feel cold.

"Hello?" I called out to them. "Please, I would like to speak with the eldest troll."

The stones began rumbling around me until they rolled into their troll-selves, blinking their wide expectant eyes in unison.

"It's the queen." they all murmured.

"Kristoff's home!" some others cheered.

Another gasped. "Kristoff you better not be cheating on our Anna!"

"Shame on you having an affair with her sister!"

The trolls began muttering all at the same time, and I looked to an embarrassed Kristoff who held up his hands in defense.

"No. No. We don't have an affair." I said, equally disgruntled by the idea as Kristoff was.

"Guys, come on! We only came here to see Grand Pabbie!" Kristoff yelled at them.

And then another stone rolled into the clearing, plopping into the same troll who saved Anna's life. It was the eldest troll whom they called Grand Pabbie.

"Your majesty." he acknowledged me. "What brings you to our humble abode?"

"I came here for help." I said. "A dark cloud that seems to conjure up black snow attacked Arendelle just this morning. This happened after a crimson light fell from up north. Do you happen to know what's going on?"

"A crimson light?And a cloud that makes ice and darkness... hmmm. And so the visions have finally happened."

"What do you mean Grand Pabbie?" it was the mountain guy Kristoff.

Then I saw Grand Pabbie wave his arms and conjure images of a sihlouette of the mestanding amidst a crowd, waving like a queen then forming a giant snow flake above.

"Your power has finally grown into the beauty that you see as it is. Now that you have triumphed over fear... a new wave of darkness seeks to penetrate the heart of the kingdom." Grand Pabbie said

Then it was an image of me and my people, surrounded by a herd of black stallions. "It knows of your capabilities... it senses your fears... and it wants you on _his _side."

"Who?" I asked

"The Nightmare King." he answered, his voice cold as ice.

"What does he want? What does he want from me and why?" I asked, my voice trembling.

"The Nightmare King's goal is for all to disappear until there is nothing left but fear. He feeds off of everyone's deepest and darkest nightmares. He draws power from it and he almost succeeded, Queen Elsa. He almost succeeded with you."

My mind journeyed through images of the past... freezing Anna's head... my seclusion from the world... my parents' deaths... the coronation... my powers out of control... the eternal winter in Arendelle... Anna's frozen heart...

"But you figured out a way to control it... to nurture it... to make it grow..." the old troll continued. "And he is both angry and amused by it. So he wants you on his side."

"How do I stop him?" I asked, my voice low and shaking.

"Powerful as you are, Queen Elsa, you would need the help from those who defeated the Nightmare King from a different time." Grand Pabbie told me as new images formed of the same figures the crimson lights showed before. "They are the Guardians, protectors of the balance of the universe and of the hopes and dreams of humankind. They journeyed the skies through a mighty crimson light for the purpose of pursuing this evil."

"Woah," Kristoff breathed in amazement.

"Where can I find them?" I asked albeit too urgently.

"They are here..." Grand Pabbie smiled. "But, you are not ready to see them."

My heart fell. Whatever hope that was bubbling inside of me felt like it had been crushed to pieces. "Why? What do you mean I'm not ready to see them?"

"They proposed an agreement that they would guard and guide you from the shadows. They must not be seen, not even by you." the troll explained. "They thought it crucial that the enemy mustn't know they've come to your aid. And they've come from the future... which means their physical presence might possibly alter the course of future possibilities."

I nodded, trying to take all the information in. "I understand. But how will I know they're here? How will I know they're watching over me?"

And then it hit me.

_Be careful... He's watching... She's watching_

The voice I heard from before. Could it be that he's one of these Guardians?

Kristoff stood up and eyed the surrounding area. "Could they at least give us a sign, Grand Pabbie? That they're here, I mean?"

Before Grand Pabbie could answer, a stream of golden sand swept through the valley in gentle swirls, forming pictures of Santa Claus on his sleigh roaming around us, a fairy fluttering about with a fleet of humming birds trailing behind her, a 6 foot kangaroo... or perhaps an odd looking big rabbit carrying a basket filled with eggs, a short plump man who appeared to be swirling sand in his palms, and a hooded boy holding a curved staff, with sand snowflakes swirling around him...

And then it began to snow in the valley. The flakes sparkled a periwinkle blue while they fell to the ground, coating the valley in an ethereal winter glow. Some flurries danced around my skirts, dissolving into cerulean dust that made us all too dumbstruck to speak. The trolls began murmuring in awe, some dancing through the streams of sand and snow that flooded the area in gold and white lights.

A lone snowflake touched the tip of my nose. I blinked. Strange... why did I suddenly feel all confident and happy inside? A startled Kristoff looked at me with eyebrows raised when I began to hold back a giggle.

"What?" he asked.

"Jack Frost nipped at my nose." I smiled. "Strange huh?"

Kristoff shrugged, giving me a confused smile. I smiled, suddenly twirling around as frost crept through the fabric of my skirt. While I spinned, my dress crystalized into an ice blue dress, similar to a peasant's with semi-transparent white sleeves and a teal blue skirt that fell to my ankles but sparkling like the dress I fashioned when I first made that ice castle from a year back. I felt my bonnet fall, loosening my tresses in elegant waves down my back. The snow and sand swirled around me, filling me with a childish joy and warmth that I haven't felt in a long time.

"This is amazing!" I giggled, looking at my palms that had snowflake-shaped lights in them. "I feel more... in control of my powers. Did they do that?"

Grand Pabbie just looked at me and smiled that wise smile of his. The trolls marveled at the magical display when I raised my hands and thawed the snow I caused when transforming. Strangely though, a layer of frost remained in some of the slopes and stones, and my guess was that I wasn't the one who caused them.

* * *

My name is Jack Frost, and I am speechless.

No really, I am.

I was really pissed after having Tooth explain to me that the plan was that she wasn't allowed to see us. Besides that ridiculous rule that grown ups weren't supposed to see us since it attracts unwanted attention in a guardian's work, they go off telling me that it would be best for Pitch not to know we're here, talking about time paradoxes and what not. That's why we're hiding behind this big stone, squinting our eyes to see through the steam that rose from the ground and tried to listen to Pabbie's and this girl's conversation. "I thought the plan was to get her on our side... so why the heck are we hiding?" I muttered.

The answer I got was an imaginary sound of crickets singing in my head.

"So this prophecy..."I murmured to Tooth. "Is it telling us that she is the key to defeat Pitch and save the Man in the Moon?"

"Well, maybe, yeah..." Tooth answered. "But we're not exactly sure. The prophecy itself is a riddle. It's too confusing. And right now, we think that it's safer and more practical to study her while staying hidden or else we might cause a time paradox."

I groaned. "What is it with people and riddles? I wish Hickory told us more."

"Quiet you two." North scolded.

I did just that. And I was really pissed. Tooth placed her hand on my shoulder and smiled apologetically. I sighed. As much as I wanted to ask this girl, this Queen Elsa, as to where and how she got her powers and figure out what she has got to do with everything, I was stuck here watching and waiting for what would happen like a sitting duck.

And all the time we were hiding, Pitch Black is out there ruining the future. And Jamie, Sophie and all the other children's lives are in danger. Now that I've come to think about it, I wondered...

Who are the Guardians of childhood guarding the children of the future? What of the other guardians North was talking about?

_And there will be no more guardians..._

"Where can I find them?" I heard Elsa ask Pabbie.

"They are here..." Grand Pabbie smiled. "But, you are not ready to see them."

I grit my teeth. Again, I've never understood the point why we needed to hide. It's not like Hickory wanted us here that there might be complications. These 'extra-precautionary measures' are making things less easier for all of us!

"They proposed an agreement that they would guard and guide you from the shadows. They must not be seen, not even by you. They thought it crucial that the enemy mustn't know they've come to your aid. And they've come from the future... which means their physical presence might possibly alter the course of future possibilities."

"I understand. But how will I know they're here? How will I know they're watching over me?"

"Could they at least give us a sign, Grand Pabbie? That they're here, I mean?"

"That's your cue Sandy." Bunny told the sandman who answered by giving two optimistic thumbs-ups. A stream of golden sand swept through the valley in gentle swirls, making pictures of us, the guardians of childhood... I saw her stare at the sand in awe... and for some reason I felt a bit irritated at the fact that I wasn't allowed to interact with her.

I've never been a fan of rules.

So I had to make it snow in the valley.

"Jack! What in the moon's name are you doin'?!" Bunny hissed at me.

"Reaching out to a fellow ice caster..." I murmured... My staff hazily shot blue streams of light above them, causing a delicate snowfall in the valley.

A lone snowflake touched the tip of her nose. I blinked. Strange... why did I suddenly feel all... broken inside? I saw her break into the most... beautiful smile I'd ever seen. It put all the smiles of angels to shame... I... she...

What the heck Jack?!

"What?" the mountain man asked her.

"Jack Frost nipped at my nose. Strange huh?"

Did she just... say my name?

She was suddenly twirling around as frost crept through the fabric of her skirt. Her dress crystalized into sonething white and blue. Her bonnet fell, loosening her hair in waves down her back. The snow and sand swirled around her, and she was giggling like a child without a care in the world. I was in awe... Now I've seen it... her power... very similar to mine... _but different..._

Why? Why did it seem like I wanted to just get out of this hideout and talk to her? It feels like there was something I had to know from her. My guess was that Father Time knew about it... no, the Man in the Moon knew about it right from the start...

Why?

More importantly, what is this ridiculous sense of longing doing to me?

"This is amazing! I feel more... in control of my powers. Did they do that?"

She raised her hands and thawed the snow she caused when transforming. Strangely though, a layer of frost remained in some of the slopes and stones, and my guess was that she was bewildered at how she wasn't the one who caused them. I gaped. She could literally _thaw _the snow.

_Unlike you Jack, she knows how to thaw a frozen heart_

It was official... I will definitely show myself to her.

* * *

My name is Elsa... and I'm exhausted.

After talking to Grand Pabbie, Kristoff and I noticed that it was already close to evening which meant...

I had no time to investigate the North Mountain.

I was not given any more information about the guardians. The trolls and Kristoff coaxed me into coming back, and I also remembered telling the guards to inform Anna I'd be home by sundown...

Oh no...

I came back to Arendelle with half-hearted enthusiasm. At least there was progress. Some invisible guardians from the future were willing to help me. I just wished I could have met them face to face.

Upon entering the castle, an angry tear-filled Anna greeted me with sobs and blind-date threats for worrying her to death. I massaged my temples, trying to fend off an incoming headache.

A lot from the council panicked.

A lot from the guards worried.

A lot from the staff fretted over my disappearance.

A lot were angry because they worried the black cloud might have attacked while I was gone.

But they didn't.

Yet, they scolded me for grave irresponsibility and recklessness in using my powers outside the walls of my kingdom. They said they should have waited a couple more years before crowning an immature girl with unstable powers as queen.

I did what I was raised to do. I bowed low accepting the scolding with humility. I smiled politely, thanking them for their rebuke. I quietly excused myself from the halls of the council and gently closed its wooden double doors. I tread warily through the corridors, my chin held high while acknowledging Kai and Gerda who heard the bickering in the room. And all the while I chanted that same mantra which defined most of my entire painful life...

Conceal it. Don't feel it. Don't let it show.

"Elsa?"

I sat alone in my old room, by the window pane, gazing at the stars... with frustrated tears on my cheeks, and frost coating the walls in agry red streaks of ice.

"You okay?" Anna asked as she slowly walked towards me.

"Please don't come close." I pleaded softly. "Not until I'm done being upset."

Anna closed the door behind her and looked at

me with a gentle smile. "How can I help?"

"Tell me something that doesn't involve frustrated advisers and worrywart governors." I said while gazing at the stars.

"Well... I kind of already set you up for your first date for next week?" Anna told me uncertainly, wringing the front of her green skirt in her hands. "With the duke of Oronoir... Kozmotis Pitchiner?"

I sighed... It didn't help, but I didn't want to kill Anna's efforts at diverting my attention. Over the course of the months since the eternal winter, Anna has known when not to speak about things that cause my stress... choosing to speak about less stressful topics instead, which often never did me any good. But Anna is Anna, and I made the choice to never slam the door at her again.

"Okay..." I sighed, feeling like the most helpless person in the world.

"Elsa..."

"Yeah?"

"Uhm..." she hesitated. "We're still not talking about the black cloud and what not right?"

"No..." I said, feeezing a tear that fell. "We're not."

"Okay... Uhm..." Anna cupped her chin then snapped her fingers in cheerful realization. "How about doing a screening?!"

I looked at her in confusion. "Screening?"

Happy that she managed to grab my full attention, she bounced towards me and sat on the ledge. "You know... let"s do a screening on those guys who will be dating you next week! I have their pictures here, along with personality profiles."

I stared at Anna in disbelief. She looked almost proud of herself while showing me stacks of paper I didn't know she was carrying with pictures of princes, knights, kings and dukes who want my hand in marriage.

"Where did you get this?" I asked her.

"I'm quite the detective aren't I?" she smiled mischievously. "Now take your pick! Exclude Duke Pitchiner and Prince Mikhail since their my two personal favorites!"

I looked at the files she handed me... they were guys from different nations who looked a little younger or older than me. Anna definitely picked these out... most of them looked attractive in their own way, but to have Anna go through these heights for me is just... a tad bit too overboard.

"Uhm, Elsa? Please don't freeze the room..."

My eyes snapped to Anna who was shivering from the cold. I didn't realize I had frozen almost half of the room in my stressed state. Sighing, I thawed the ice and placed the files carefully beside me.

"I don't know Anna..." I murmured. My heart just isn't ready for this...

"Elsa..." Anna whispered. She placed her dainty hand on my shoulder and stared at my eyes. "Tell you what... how about you tell me about your ideal man?"

I stared at her, taken aback by her wierd question. "My what?"

"Your ideal man, silly!" Anna rolled her eyes. "Every girl has one! I just have to know what kind of guy your dream man is so we'll know who's the perfect match for you!"

"An ideal man?" I didn't know what to say, but since the thought kind of made me forget the events that transpired that afternoon, even for a bit, I decided to humor her.

"How about you start with... personality?" Anna drawled out the last word sounding a bit bored. I giggled.

I cupped my chin in thought... What would I like in a guy's personality?

"Kind?" I asked.

"Boring." Anna said in a sing-song voice. "Anything else?"

"Uhm... a little on the mischievous side?" I smiled, a faint blush painting my cheeks. Seeing the sparkle in Anna's eye proved she liked where this was going.

"Go on," she encouraged.

"He'd be..." I began, "_A gentleman but playfull, perhaps he'd have a way with childen... he might be unpredictable but his smile will leave me smitten?_"

"Ooh! A bad boy softie who has a way with kids!" Anna twittered excitedly as she pulled out a couple of pictures. "Go on!"

I walked from the ledge towards the center of the room, trying to think of what makes a man attractive.

"_What do you think makes a man a man?" _I sang to Anna. "_He'd be calm and cool, sometimes a fool and gets things out of hand."_

Anna giggled, running towards an armchair and grabbing a pen to jot down the words of my song. I paused trying to think more about it.

_"But he's wise enough to stand, and brave enough to fight... though he makes mistakes I won't love him less 'cause we'll fix them hand in hand..."_

"_What do you think makes a man a man?" _I continued. "_He'd be funny but serious, headstrong, quite delirious, and maybe a little rash."_

"What else?" Anna beamed as she wrote excitedly on her paper.

_"What do you think makes a man a man? He'll be gentle but fierce, and true to his peers, and he'll tell me there's nothing to fear..."_

I spun and sped walk to my balcony, gazing at the big and bright moon that glowed in all its splendor. The stars in the sky sparkled, studding the night sky in dreamy dots of white, blue and yellow.

_"What makes a man a man is one who's imperfectly perfect to me... He'll hold my heart so carefully like it means all the world to him!"_

I felt a rising feeling in my chest. My heart fluttered, and I was surprised by this a bit. Suddenly my worries about the Nightmare King and the advisers seemed so far away. I found a kind of release, snowflakes sparkling around me prettily while the wind blew into room, as I sang about a man whom I never met.

Suddenly, I felt... like I really wanted to fall in love. It was a strange feeling.

_"We'd be the same, but different, my light to the dark in me..."_

I stopped, holding the railing and gazing to the sky... And then, I imagined him...

_"He'll be riding the moonlight... like a prince without a steed... Tall and fair, windswept hair, and... very perfect teeth..."_

I heard Anna giggle from somewhere inside the room. But I gave not much thought to it, 'cause my mind was someplace else.

I pictured him... that voice who said he loved me. I imagined a young man floating from the moonbeams like a handsome ghost. He'd have a boyish and confused grin, he'd be taller than me...

_"The cold won't bother him... like it never bothered me." _I hummed, raising my hand meaning to reach out to this inaginary man.

I could see him making his descent, perched on the railing with wide, lovestruck eyes. I was amused by how my subconscious conjured an image of a boy around my age... wearing a hooded blue something covered in frost, and brown pants that ended at his shins. The toes of his feet sparkled like snow, producing sparks of ice on the balcony where his feet landed. Soon I was imagining his face inches from mine... He'd have fair winter skin, a handsome jaw... and...

_"He'd have the bluest eyes to see my soul... and tousled hair as... _white as snow..."

Wait... what?!

My voice trailed off... My brows scrunched in confusion. The man before me was too... _perfectly real _ to be my imagination...

It can't be.

But when I touched the guy's face, it was as if he had been woken from a trance.

This guy is... this guy is...

"What did you say Elsa? Hair white as snow?!" I heard Anna ask disbelievingly. "Don't tell me you're interested in old doods... Elsa?" I heard Anna prattle from inside the room.

But I gave no thought to what she was saying... Because I was hyperventilating.

The guy I was imagining was... real... He's real... He's _real..._

His eyes widened in alarm. I cautiously backed away from him, a pending scream stuck in my throat. This guy... I

know this guy... he's...

He floated down the railing when I backed away. He looked... shocked, confused, scared... I don't know which. The wind blew and tousled his already messy hair, proving he was really real and present before me.

He was not a figment of my imagination. I realize that now.

He was the guy from before... the guy with white hair...

"Don't." he warned. His left hand was held out to me, while his other hand gripped a curved wooden staff to balance himself off the railing. "Don't scream, please."

I screamed.

But before the sound left my lips, he used the curved staff to pull me close to him, meaning to silence me with his long fingered hands. I stumbled. He caught me by the waist. He fell down. I fell on top of him.

And by accident, I kissed him.

"Elsa?"

_The sound of a gasp... and then a squeal..._

* * *

**A/N: Next chapter is in Jack's POV. Sorry for the confusion. R&R. :)**


	9. Chapter 8: Blush

Firstly, I would like to apologize...

You see I failed to double check the previous chapter. If you were one of those readers who noticed the errors from that chapter then good for you. ^^ Well I'll be spell checking and proof reading the previous chapters sometime soon so don't worry about it.

I would like to thank those responsible for the follows, faves, and reads. I know it shouldn't be a big deal since there are fics that have over hundreds or thousands of reviews in just a few chapters... but since this is a first for me, I'm making a big deal out of it to thank you all!

I also made another fic. A bit light hearted compared to this one actually... If you like you can check it out. I won't be updating it much though since I'd like to focus on Red Moon first.

Enjoy the new chapter! :)

**Disclaimer: When you see the word, you already know what it means.**

**Chapter 8: Blush**

"Jamie... I'm scared."

Sophie clung to her brother, relying on the faint light of emergency lamps as they watched a raging snow storm by Jamie's bedroom window. It all happened in a flash, with the power going out and ash-colored frost coating everything solid. Then a cold wind blew fiercely through the streets, bringing large masses of angry red and black clouds toward the city. At first it was a mild hailstorm... and then everything went black.

There was no white in Burgess. Only cold, black ice and snow.

"Jack... where are you?" Jamie whispered.

"Jamie, Sophie." The siblings heard their mother calling. "It's time for bed. We have to save the batteries since we don't know when the power's coming back."

Jamie didn't want to turn off the lights. He tried not to be afraid, trying to remember what Jack Frost once told him. Sophie scrunched closer to her brother, more afraid of the dark than her big brother was.

"Stay with Jamie!" Sophie mumbled, snuggling againts her brother's arm.

"It'll be fine Sophie... you'll see." Jamie said trying to sound cheerful. "The guardians are going to protect us! I know it!"

Sophie looked into her brother's big brown eyes and believed in him.

"Bunny, bunny, hop, hop, hop!" Sophie cheered, jumping up and down Jamie's bed. Jamie chuckled at his sister's fondness for the Easter Bunny. He knew that hope was coming, and it was coming soon in this dark winter time.

"Listen," Jamie smiled, pulling out a small knight action figure from his pants pocket. It was a toy which had black armor and glow-in-the-dark eyes and hair. "This guy here is Nightlight."

Sophie eyed the figurine with awe. "Oh... pretty."

Jamie placed the knight on his study table and thought of an idea to pass their time.

"He's one of the guardians, just like Jack Frost!" Jamie told his sister. "He's one of the more ancient ones though... See the armor? It means he's a knight off to fight the dark when the moon isn't out."

Sophie clapped excitedly and pointed at the action figure. Jamie observed that the toy was glowing brighter than it used to.

"Pretty light! Pretty light!" Sophie chanted.

Then a faint blue light flickered in the middle of the room. At first it was small like a firefly, until it grew into a gentle beam of white. The sight filled Jamie with an indescribable hope and courage... He knew it didn't come from him... which meant...

"Jack?" Jamie murmured uncertainly.

A tall boy, who looked more or less in his twenties, with white tousled hair that ended in messy spirals and black armor, stood by the foot of his bed. He looked bewildered, blinking at the kids in confusion then eyeing the long curved staff he held in his hands. Jamie assumed it was his winter spirit friend at first... until he noticed that his staff was different, for it had a diamond shaped edge at its end, and the boy's eyes were _wrong..._

The boy had _green eyes._

"You're not... you're not Jack are you?" Jamie asked cautiously, putting himself between the man and his sister.

"N-no..." the young man breathed. He looked really flustered, and then snapped his eyes at Jamie with shock. "W-wait, you can see me?"

Now Jamie was confused. By the looks of it, this man was no bad guy. In fact, his very presence spoke courage and trust towards him, and it made him suddenly feel... safe.

"Are you... Nightlight?" Jamie asked.

"You... you know who I am?" Nightlight asked, looking even more flabbergasted. "But.. no one knows who I am... except the children from Santoff Claussen..."

Nightlight looked to the windows then gasped. "Manny... oh no... Katherine..."

Jamie followed his sight and asked the first question he thought of since seeing him. "Are you a guardian like the others?"

Nightlight looked at him, a bit uneasily. "Well no... I mean yes... I mean, once..." He stood straight then smiled, wearing a devious smile that could rival the guardian of fun. "I'm retired. But since I'm here already, then it's best I introduce myself."

The knight clad in black armor straightened himself then bowed a gentlemanly bow. Sophie giggled and Jamie stared at him in awe.

"My name is Nightlight, Guardian of Courage... and I need your help to save the world."

My name is Jack Frost, and I am planning something deviously brilliant!

Moments after that little show Sandy and I made, Grand Pabbie told off the blonde company to head back to Arendelle castle immediately.

"But I have to head up the North Mountain!" she argued. "I still believe he made his base there."

"Elsa please... we have to listen to Pabbie." Kristoff pleaded warily.

"He's right." a troll agreed. "And Anna might get worried. It's already close to sundown and you haven't had lunch yet girl!"

I saw her freeze at the mention of a girl named Anna. "Oh no... you're right... she's probably worried."

"The guardians will do the investigation for you, your majesty." Pabbie told her. "You must return to the kingdom where you are needed most."

And after that argument, they left riding on Sven the goofy reindeer. We went out of our hideouts and conversed with Pabbie about the plan.

Well I had my own plan in mind.

"So this is the plan." North began. "Four of us will head to this North Mountain disguised as humans... while one, with ability to fly and stay hidden will go and watch over the queen."

"Good plan." Bunny remarked. "How about Sandy be the one to go and watch over the queen since he's reliable. Right Sandy?"

All eyes turned to a dozing Sandy and shook their heads in disagreement.

"How about I do it?" Tooth volunteered. "We're both girls which means we can sort of relate together about teeth right?"

North and Bunny shook their heads violently.

"Wake Sandy up and let 'im do it." Bunny insisted. My guess was that he didn't trust me enough to watch over Queen Elsa because of my previous actions.

"I'll do it." I said. North, Tooth and Bunny looked at me warily, but Pabbie merely gazed at me looking amused.

I shrugged my shoulders and continued. "Well, I think it makes sense since no one really actually believes in Jack Frost around this time. The present me in this time period is possibly around 70 years or something goofing off somewhere in the tropics. And nobody actually ever believed there was a Jack Frost many years before I turned guardian, right?"

They all thought about this for a moment until I got the approval I was looking for.

"Jack goes to see the queen." North declared.

And that's what brought me here now, a hundred altitudes above the kingdom of Arendelle, flying like a speeding bullet in order to meet this Queen Elsa as soon as possible. I felt glad that I left out the part where she actually saw me, because if they had known that then I'd be in big trouble now.

_Jack..._

Wait... was that my sister?

_Jack..._

Wait no... It's someone else...

_Jack..._

The voice was coming fron somewhere below... From the castle...

_Jack, come down..._

Why did the voice sound like it came from Manny?

Well, I planned on showing myself to her anyway, regardless of what North and the others said. So I made my descent until I could make out an open window from view. There were only a few guards down below, some trying to fight off a snooze while others gave in to drowsiness.

I flew around the towers, carefully descending to the lower buildings. I came across a window opening to a grand-looking hall where old people in fancy royal apparel were bickering. A peep allowed me to see her, Queen Elsa, seated at th far end of the fancy table. She wore a teal blue dress and a royal blue bolero, looking more queenly than her previous get-up. Her hair was set in an orderly bun, and she wore a small gold tiara on her head. Her face looked stern, like she was carved out of stone. She still looked pretty, mind you... But she seemed to look like all the life was drained out of her.

She looked tired. And sad.

"Such actions are shameless, Queen Elsa!" a fat bald guy yelled at her. "To have left the city square without a plan is not an act befitting a wise queen!"

"And to have used your powers irresponsibly!" another guy with salt and pepper hair added with disdain. "Worse casualties might have ensued! And leaving the castle without an escort and in disguise!"

"The worst was to leave the people unprotected!" another scolded her. "You are the only one capable of defeating the dark cloud... And we know not yet of its potentials and you leave without the consent of the council!"

"You should have been wiser than this! And we thought Princess Anna was the naive one!"

At this Elsa's eyes turned fierce. "Do _not _insult my sister!"

Icy spikes erupted from the far side of the table, narrowly missing an old man's nose with its sharp point. There were frightened gasps followed by angry murmurs. The scene was obviously filled with so much tension that it felt like I was watching some corporate soap opera.

The Queen's eyes widened with fright. She extended her hand and thawed the icy spikes with her powers. She bowed her head with a shamed face and sat quietly through the remainder of their bickering.

I gripped my staff. I had no inkling about powdered-wig cultures despite my age. But that is definitely not a way to treat a lady.

"We should have waited before crowning an immature girl with unstable powers as queen..." a small guy muttered under his breath.

The sight of the girl filled me with so much pity. Behind a face set in stone, I could feel the stabbing pain of rejection that she might have felt at the old geezers' words. After that meeting, she politely excused herself and left the room in slow, measured strides.

I flew, my line of sight refusing to leave where she went. I stopped at an open window with what I guessed had a perfect view of the moon. The room was spacious and bright, and I guessed it might have been her room. Soon I heard the door open and hid behind the wall, struggling for a peek since she was walking towards the pane to sit and stare at the sky. I found a niche in the walls where I could hide myself with a good view of her, and I was carefully hid by shadows which were a bonus.

Why the heck was I still hiding?

Oh yeah, right. The plan.

I saw something shimmer then freeze at her cheeks. Frozen teardrops. She was crying.

_"Don't let them in... Don't let them see... Be the good girl you always have to be..."_

She was crying _and _singing. Lovely... but depressing all the same.

She sniffed softly, wiping the tears from her eyes then gazing hard at the moon.

_"Conceal... Don't feel... Put on a show..." _shesobbed._ "Make one wrong move and everyone will know..."_

Wow, she looked really down in the dumps. I narrowed my eyes enough to see red frost creep through the walls from where she perched. I arched my brows. Huh, so her magic kind of responds to how she felt. Now I found myself having more questions piled up for her.

Just when I thought it was time for me to make my appearance, I heard three raps at the door of her room and then a strawberry blonde woman came in, grabbing Elsa's attention. I wanted to get closer to see better, but I was afraid that they might see me.

I still don't understand how it is possible for people to see me according to my earlier plight. Pabbie said that there were many believers during this time period, but it's still strange. North even gave me this crystal necklace thing saying it'll make me look human as a disguise. But what's the need for that? Usually it was only the kids that could see us, which wasn't supposed to be a problem since we needed kids to believe in us, right?

But why could the girl see me?

I always thought nobody believed in Jack Frost during this time. But why could some people see me? Or rather, why could this… Elsa see me?

"Elsa? You okay?"

"Please don't come close… Not until I'm done being upset…"

I wanted to listen in on their conversation, but it was getting hard to eavesdrop without the certainty of being unnoticed. Soon I became a bit uncomfortable in my position. I flew up a couple of altitudes above the castle, trying to figure out a way to show myself to her without causing a scene. I cupped my chin in thought, studying the castle and the village beneath me. There weren't many people loitering outdoors so far… but the castle walls looked a bit too heavily guarded for anyone's liking.

I shot farther to the skies, hiding behind the clouds. This was getting difficult. Not being assured of my invisibility was becoming an inconvenience. I could try coming down as I usually do on an ordinary day, but I was worried that the people here might actually see me as Elsa did. Could it be a side effect of time traveling, to be seen by even the grown up human? Only Hickory would know…

Suddenly I felt a soft cold breeze and a soundless voice whisper to me.

_Jack… Listen closely…_

What?

_Go back to her…_

Wait, why?

I looked up at the moon. It was so big, and it was so bright… seeming to chase the darkness away… I narrowed my eyes.

"Well _now_ you're talking to me!" I told the moon off. "What's the big deal? Don't you know Pitch's gonna kill you probably one or two centuries from now?!"

Silence….

"Hey! I'm talking to you!" I yelled. I don't know why I was yelling, but I felt like I wanted to let out my frustration somehow. "What was the deal with you sending us here? Why'd you have to let your guard down against Pitch so easily?"

Still no answer.

"That's right. All you do is watch and let us do _your_ job!" I hissed. "Why did you send us _here? _What is it that you want us to do? What is it that you want me to do?!"

I thought in that moment as the moon shined brighter that I would still get no answer… until.

_I want you to be strong…_

And then a new wind came and spiraled beneath me, making me lose my balance a little. I toppled through the air a little but I managed to recover my balance. I snapped my head back at the moon, feeling a familiar pain inside my chest. It was the same feeling I felt when... when I died.

Why did it sound to me like the moon was saying goodbye?

It took me a while to notice that I was hovering closely above an open balcony. It was still the same room where Elsa was. I could hear her talking to the girl, whom I guessed could be her cousin or sister since they had a resemblance.

What I saw in the room though had me confused.

A while ago, Elsa was crying. But now she was smiling like a… like a besotted wife, or something. And even the woman with her was giggling.

"A little on the mischievous side?" I heard Elsa say.

Go on," the other girl encouraged her.

"He'd be..." Elsa paused, then to my surprise, she began singing, "_A gentleman but playful, perhaps he'd have a way with children... he might be unpredictable but his smile will leave me smitten?_"

"Ooh! A bad boy softie who has a way with kids!" the other girl squealed excitedly as she pulled out a couple of pictures. Wait, are those wanted posters or something? "Go on!"

Elsa walked towards the center of the room, I wanted to fly towards another hideout, but from where I was angled to the inside of the room, I guess she couldn't see me, so I stayed.

"_What do you think makes a man a man?" _She sang again. "_He'd be calm and cool, sometimes a fool and gets things out of hand."_

I arched my brows. Why was she singing about a guy? Or why the heck was she singing? It felt like I was watching a live Mary Poppins show or… or Glee. The girl with her seemed so entertained though, as she was madly writing down something on a piece of parchment.

_"But he's wise enough to stand, and brave enough to fight... though he makes mistakes I won't love him less 'cause we'll fix them hand in hand..." _she sang, a beautiful grin painting her face. I flushed.

"_What do you think makes a man a man?" _she continued. "_He'd be funny but serious, headstrong, quite delirious, and maybe a little rash."_

"What else?" the girl beamed as she wrote excitedly on her paper.

_"What do you think makes a man a man? He'll be gentle but fierce, and true to his peers, and he'll tell me there's nothing to fear..."_

Her voice gave me odd goose bumps. She had a really pretty voice, the kind you hear on Broadway. She spun and sped walk to the balcony, (at this point I was snapping my head at all directions, finding a place to hide) and stared at me. Straight at me! Or maybe through me… I was a bit far away to make sure, and my back was to the moon, which made it harder for me to see. But she didn't flinch.

I blinked. Could she, or could she not see me?

_"What makes a man a man is one who's imperfectly perfect to me... He'll hold my heart so carefully like it means all the world to him!" _she sang.

That's… _strange. _Why did I feel like she was singing… to me?

_Go to her Jack. She knows how to thaw a frozen heart._

_"We'd be the same, but different, my light to the dark in me..."_

I just floated there, looking at her as she gazed right at me by the railing. If it was possible for my heart to beat fast, it would be beating really, really fast by now. But I was already dead and frozen anyway so that wouldn't really be an issue...

_"He'll be riding the moonlight... like a prince without a steed... Tall and fair, windswept hair, and... very perfect teeth..."_

I grinned, feeling both flattered and confused. It really was as if she was describing me with her song. I don't know…

_"The cold won't bother him... like it never bothered me." _she raised her hand, as if meaning to reach out to me. I felt an odd magnetism drawing me down toward the railing. I did just that, floating down until I was crouched on the balcony's railing facing her.

She was definitely more beautiful up close. Her eyes were big and blue and bright, like the moon when I first woke as a guardian. The sight of them filled me with... I don't know. She had a cute nose, and dark pink lips that stretched into an elegant smile. I felt dazed, and my thoughts felt like mush...

Somewhere in the back of my mind, warning bells were already ringing, telling me to stop whatever she was about to do, that I was breaking a lot of rules already.

It was never in my nature to follow rules.

She slowly raised her hand, meaning to touch my face.

_"He'd have the bluest eyes to see my soul... and tousled hair as... _white as snow..."

Her brows scrunched in confusion. It was as if she suddenly realized I was there... that I was real.

I flinched when she touched my face. Her hand was cold... no, _warm. _Her brows were then raised in panic as realization sketched across her face.

Uh-oh.

"What did you say Elsa? Hair white as snow?!Don't tell me you're interested in old doods... Elsa?"

We both ignored the other girl. Instead I focused cautiously on the girl hyperventilating before me. She started backing away from me, and by the looks of it, she looked like she was gonna scream.

I floated down the railing when she backed away. I raised my arm meaning to tell her I meant no harm, hoping she wouldn't scream.

"Don't." I warned. "Don't scream, please."

She was gonna scream.

So I did what I had to do. I used my staff to pull her in but...

Suddenly there was ice, all over floor.

And I slipped.

"Woah!"

"Aah!"

"Oof!"

"?!"

"Elsa?"

When you know what it's like to get caught up in ridiculously awkward moments with a girl, well... I guess I'll be needing a bit of help.

I slipped on ice. THE Jack Frost... slipping on ice, with a gorgeous girl on top of me.

I just got the very first kiss of my three hundred and one years of my immortal life. And I got it by accident.

"Eeeeeek!"

And just like that, Elsa pushed herself off of me, a small bruise evident at the corner of her lip. She scrambled away from me, face red with shock, anger, and embarassment. As for me... well I was still lying on the floor probably wearing the goofiest expression of all time.

"Oh my stars Elsa!" the strawberry blonde girl squealed, pointing at me. "You just-he just-you were-"

And then the girl screamed again and that was when I regained my senses and shot towards the sky, but not too far away from them.

"Look I'm sorry! I just-"

A flash of blue light zapped towards me. I dodged right, then left, then there were streams of ice all over the place.

"Oh my goodness Elsa he's flying!"

"How dare you come near me!" Elsa yelled at me. There were a few tears gathering at her eyes. "You stole my-"

"Elsa stop!" the other girl screamed.

"Wait! Stop! Hey!"

By the looks of it, I think I sort of made a bad first impression.

The last zap of power came too fast. Luckily.I blocked the attack with my staff. I sighed in relief.

But the attack wasn't over. The next stream of ice struck me... at the heart.

"AHK!"

I lost my balance, and my grip on my staff, and I fell.

Dang. That hurt!

"Oh my goodness!" she gasped.

I fell on the balcony, and my staff... well, the staff will have its part two in the repairs department. I clutched the part of my chest where it hurt. The impact of the attack wasn't really fatal... only it made my chest feel a million times heavier.

Well that's two unexpected events of the evening.

"Oh no, oh no, oh no, Elsa you stuck him!" the other girl gasped.

"I know! I know! I only meant to scare him away! I think... I think I froze his heart!" Elsa stammered. "Oh no, I'm sorry, I... Oh Anna what am I gonna do?!"

The two girls scrambled toward me with panicked faces. I would have laughed if it weren't for the pain in my chest. It wasn't as painful as Pitch's attacks though... It just felt odd.

Soon I felt cold seep from my chest to all over my body. I felt myself recover and... feel more powerful. Huh, strange...

But the two girls before me were still stammering with panic and worry.

"Oh no Elsa! I think he's dying!" the strawberry blonde panicked. "I think he's turning into ice! His hair's white all over!"

"Wait, my hair's always been white, I-" I groaned. But they weren't listening to me.

"Oh I know!" the girl named Anna said frantically, though there was a devious glint in her eyes. "A kiss! A kiss of true love!"

I snapped my head towards Anna in alarm. Elsa's eyes grew wide as her face flushed red.

"WHAT?!" her voice hitched.

"Well you're about to kill him!" Anna said in a panicky voice. "Do it already!"

Alarm bells rang in my head. She was insane!

"Wait!" I said. "Just wait!"

But Elsa's hands were already clutched at my hoodie's neckline. Frost sparked through my jacket as she stared at my eyes with her fearful blue ones.

She was crying. And she was about to kiss me. Again.

"STOP!" I said finally. Placing my hand against her mouth. She froze in place and Anna was looking at us with bated breath.

We were like that for a couple of seconds. We looked at each other's eyes, our gazes hard and unrelenting. That was when I removed my hand from her mouth and gave her my signature smile.

"It's fine." I said, looking from her to Anna and back to her. "My heart's been frozen for a long while now. It's always been that way since forever."

The girls just stared at me like I had just said something crazy. Well, seeing that there was no other way to it, I took the chance to introduce myself.

"My name is Jack Frost, and I'm a Guardian."


	10. PLEASE READ VERY IMPORTANT XD

Hello my friends from FF! Before bombarding me with valid violent reactions, I would like to apologize for being a bit silent for the past two weeks. -.- I've become a bit preoccupied with some stuff regarding internship, personal problems, and an anime that has recently caught my eye (Noragam! 3) that I forgot that I was still yet to upload my Jelsa fics! XD

I already have pretty looooong drafts of both Child of Winter Solstice and Red Moon and Black Ice. Both have reached beyond my usual 3k-6k word count, and I've become more meticulous with writing them than usual since both stories are approaching the shifting chapters. So please do not fret because by TONIGHT SOMETIME BY MIDNIGHT OR SOMETHING, I will REUPDATE THIS AUTHOR NOTE AND BRING YOU THE LATEST CHAPPIE, PERHAPS THE LONGEST I'VE EVER WRITTEN. As for Red Moon and Black Ice, I will update SOMETIME THIS WEEK.

Take heart dearies, for when I say I will update, I MEAN IN IT WITH FROSTING ON TOP. I'm really sorry for not updating the past days! Please hold on to your seats and expect an update today (GMT+8)

Please do not maim me or impale me or burn me on a stake! I'm too beautiful to die! TT_TT

See you later guys! I'm still at work! :3


	11. Chapter 9: The Black Parade

Hello friends! Again, I thank everyone who faved followed and reviewed this fic! Thank you for those who patiently waited for my updates, and for everyone who enjoyed the previous two chapters!

I would like to apologize also. I know some of you might have been expecting a new chapter last week, but then when a lot of readers… kind of fell in love with my second fic _Child of Winter Solstice, _my head went into a major plot construction dilemma! I was meaning to update _Red Moon and Black Ice _during Maundy Thursday when plot bunnies for the other fan fiction began to take over my poor, poor, poor brain. T.T

And then a lot of things sort of happened. I really was going to update last week. But I had to make preparations for my trip back home (six hours of windy roads and over reacting bus drivers), and my dad just came back from overseas so I had to spend some time with him, meaning not having time to go online and re-re-re-re-read and re-re-re-re-re-edit my chapters.

(Come on, be considerate guys… I have a life outside fan fiction too, you know T_T) I know you guys love fast updates, and believe me, I can update as fast as I can… if I would not mind the quality of my chapters. I know how you guys feel because I tend to be impatient with my fave reads too. But I also want to give you guys a chapter worth reading about, something that doesn't feel rushed and crappy just because I wanted to update as quickly as possible. I hope you guys understand. The delay in update was meant to give you a chapter worth waiting for. (I hope)

Well, nevertheless I present you with another chapter of _Red Moon and Black Ice! _And I hope you check out my other fic too, which is a wee bit more light hearted than this one. *wink*

**Disclaimer: ugh… this is getting tiring. I don't own anything okay? (Except maybe the plot bunny)**

**Chapter 9: The Black Parade**

"Nightlight... what exactly are we doing?"

Jamie clung tightly around Nightlight's middle frame as they hovered past the dark obscure whips of the ongoing black snow storm. Contrary to the darkness of his armor, he actually glowed a pure iridescent light against the darkness of the night. Jamir's layers upon layers of coats and snow jackets did not help with keeping the cold at bay, but Nightlight's peculiar warmth made the climate quite bearable for him, to say the least. And being with the man made him less afraid, true to his word that he was indeed the guardian of courage.

They were flying at top speed, patrolling the perimeters of Burgess in search for whatever it was the guardian was searching for. Jamie seemed reluctant at first to help him, but after hearing about what happened to the moon, and to the guardians missing, he knew he had to offer whatever help he could for the guardian's cause. He silently wondered why Nightlight retired from being a guardian, but decided it was not a primary thing to wonder about at such a time.

"We're going to look for where this Jack Frost friend of yours first awakened..." Nightlight grinned beneath him, reminding Jamie of Jack's familiar smile. "I have a gut feeling the answers are here somewhere..."

"How do you know?" Jamie asked.

"You know how Santa always feels something in his belly? You know... besides being hungry and all."

"Yeah?" Jamie said, urging him to go on.

"It's that kind of feeling." he grinned. "Besides... the Man in the Moon told me... before he fell asleep."

...

My name is Elsa and I am the Snow Queen.

Like my element, I am expected to keep my cool at all times, wearing the poise and elegance that is befitting of a ruler withstanding any trial of any sorts. The cold was never meant to bother me… but sometimes, life can hand you cold cups of lemonade that you certainly wouldn't expect.

This was not what I had in mind.

For one, I had thought I had fantasized about a floating man to realize he was actually real.

For another, I had accidentally kissed him out of panic.

For the third time, I froze his heart because I freaked out.

And for what followed, I almost kissed him again because I freaked out and lost my mind.

And suddenly, I found myself face to face with one who claimed he was a Guardian.

Anna and I knelt there, frozen in place as we stared at the man who claimed to be Jack Frost, a grin painting his features as he eyed the two of us who observed him warily like we've seen a ghost. Soon, I heard Anna squeal softly beside me, shoving me roughly by the arms towards our suspicious visitor. "Elsa, he's _gorgeous!"_

But I just sat there, frozen in place as he released my mouth from his ice-cold hand. I felt a silent choking in my throat, and I swear I could feel an extreme blush paint my face as the previous events had finally dawned over me.

This man was looking at me, wearing the most conceited smirk I've ever seen. If anything, I wanted to get out of there and lock myself in a closet because of sheer embarrassment. But then as soon as he mentioned that he was a guardian, a sense of alarm swept through my body and triggered my mind to function in its proper sense. Now was not the time to fawn over a strange… handsome young man. I had to keep my cool and stand guard.

And I had to save whatever dignity I had left in me.

Scrunching my brows together, I narrowed my eyes in accusation and slapped him.

"Ow! What was that for?"

I stood from my place, fixing the fabric of my skirt as I patted the dust and the remainder of my shame off of my body. I faced him, eyes wide with panic and shock. "For intruding in a queen's private chambers! I could have you arrested for being here unannounced!"

Anna stood up and slapped my shoulder like I did something wrong. "Elsa! Why did you do that?! Maybe he just probably got lost or something!" She looked excitedly at the man who still sat on the floor as she quietly nursed his red cheek. "And look at the poor thing! He looks like someone who's been robbed of shoes… and like he just flew off a blizzard."

I gaped at Anna in disbelief. How could she just take this man's intrusion so lightly? Sometimes I just don't understand her…

"How could he just get lost up here?! We're two stories above ground Anna!" I snapped my head at the person named Jack. "And _you… _you were the guy I saw before… when I regained consciousness…"

Jack tilted his head and stared up at me cockily, grabbing for the two pieces of broken wood situated behind him. "Yep. That was me… sorry about that."

I pulled Anna behind me, ignoring her complaints as I blocked myself between her and Jack. "What do you want from me?"

Jack stood up and made his way towards me slowly, holding out his hand meaning to calm me down. I watched him, finding him overall strange. He wore something odd and blue, flaked with frost all over, with his trousers ending by his shins. His skin was pale… like the moon, and his hair was shockingly white. He had the bluest eyes I've ever seen, the only part of his that seemed more alive than the rest of him. It raised the hairs on my back on high alert, because clearly, this man was nowhere near human.

He smiled gently, aware that flickers of blue light were cascading through my palms like a warning beacon.

"Please, calm down…." He pleaded with his voice soft and gentle. "I'm sorry for what happened before… uhm, please I mean no harm."

"Who exactly are you?!" I asked him. Although I knew he had already given me his name, I could not stop the panic rising in my chest after meeting this man. My mind trailed back to the previous events… of me seeing him afloat in the night sky, and the cold that prickled through me as I touched his face. Even after accidentally… bumping into him, all I felt when my body was pressed unto him was warmth.

And that was not natural, not even one bit. Because if he had felt warm to me, then it meant he was in reality… _cold as ice_.

"Like I said, _I'm Jack Frost. _One of the guardians! Remember the snow I made at the Valley of rocks? I was the one who made that" he told me steadily, with a nervous laugh. "I was there when Grand Pabbie told you everything… please calm down."

"Elsa! Come on stop it! He doesn't look dangerous!" Anna scolded me as she held me back. But I wasn't even doing anything yet.

"What sign can you give me? What will you do to make me believe I can trust you?" I asked him, still keeping a safe distance between him and Anna.

Jack relaxed his arms and sighed. The pieces of a broken staff he held in his hands were cast to the side as he held up both his hands in surrender.

"I'm more vulnerable without my staff, see?" he said. "You have every right to freeze me on the spot should I do something suspicious."

"See Elsa? He doesn't seem so bad." Anna murmured behind me.

Slowly I relaxed my shoulders and lowered my guard. One look at the man's face told me that he was speaking the truth… however I couldn't completely face him after the embarrassing things that happened just then. I couldn't accept them. Because for the first time in forever… I kissed a guy.

It was by accident, really. But I wasn't dumb enough to deny that I had just had my first kiss.

I always thought that first kisses were meant to happen in this idealistic, stylized universe filled with colorful lights and romance. Perhaps… in a park one summer afternoon, on a black lacquered bench beside a pristine lake… or on a boat ride by the fjords on an autumn sunset as it sinks into the horizon. Maybe on a winter night by the mountain tops, as the sky beamed awake above two lovers who shared this intimate secret amongst themselves. Knowing Anna, knowing Mama… knowing the women whom I've met in my life who dreamt about love, they always described first kisses to be like this. First kisses were meant to be shared between two people who loved each other… with all their hearts.

But it felt nothing like that for me. If anything, I felt… violated and betrayed by fate somehow. It felt like it was some sick joke being played on me. Like a black parade of all the worst possible things just marched its way in my life just to mock me fir being... me. After everything that just happened this day, with the burden of protecting Arendelle on my shoulders, and the pressure placed upon me by the council… with meaning to forget everything by being childish even for once… for being as carefree as Anna. I was met with a fate that was as shameful as this.

I gave my first kiss away.

I shook my head. Now wasn't the time to be all bothered by some ungraceful accident... In fact, knowing that I was facing a guardian from the future that moment meant it was an urgent time for discussing the more crucial matters of the state. There were so many things I had to figure out… had to know. Like that sorcerer who attacked me this afternoon… and the dark haired man who wept bloody tears for me… There was just so much that I had to figure out, so many mysteries that I had to unravel… so many things to be cautious about knowing that Arendelle… knowing that my life is most likely in danger. I had to keep my cool.

"I'm sorry…" I said, looking away from him. Regardless, I fisted my hands at the side, ready to zap him to oblivion just to be cautious. "I…"

"No, it's fine." he said, also looking away. He appeared to be… shy, or equally embarrassed as I was, though he seemed to better at hiding it than I was. But I couldn't really blame him. Things have become more awkward than they already are… especially with Anna in the scene.

We stayed silent for a few moments until I heard Anna cough behind me. "Uhm, would you guys … uhm, like to have some time alone?"

None of us said anything… Jack scratched the back of his neck, peering at me through his lashes as he opened and closed his mouth, meaning to say something. As the seconds ticked by, the air just felt stuffier and stuffier. It didn't help at all, and it was getting pretty uncomfortable. The clacking of heels behind me made me turn my head towards Anna who was looking at me with a sly grin on her face.

_Tell me everything later, _that little smile of her said as she retreated to the doors of my room, closing them behind us with a soft creak. As soon as she left, I felt a shock of panic sweep all over my body.

Suddenly I was all alone… with this handsome stranger.

Present was the soft whisper of the summer night breeze and the shockingly eerie glow of the blue moon hovering above us. I kept my distance from him, not sure if I should completely trust him just yet. But somehow I believed him. I believed that he was a guardian, and I had so many questions about the enemy and all but…

All I felt was my heart, hammering wildly against my chest. It hurt. And it was awkward.

"I'm sorry for coming here unannounced." he began. I looked at him, surprised and confused. He chuckled a bit then continued. "You see, we're not actually allowed to be seen by you... saying we have to avoid a time paradox or something since we came from the future but… I just couldn't fight the curiosity of meeting someone who's just like me."

I raised a brow at him, then a little while, I finally understood.

"You are… a spirit of winter… aren't you? Like… _Jokul Frosti?_" I asked him.

He surprised me by laughing. "Jokul Frosti? Seriously?"

"What's so funny about it?" I glared at him.

"Nothing, nothing… I just never thought…" he paused, with a sudden loneliness in his eyes. "I never thought people actually knew me around these parts… and yet no one could see me…"

"I'm sorry, I don't understand what you're saying." I said, relaxing a bit as I realized gradually that he could somehow be trusted.

"Oh, don't mind it." He smiled, putting his hands inside the pockets of his top. "Uhm… well, going back, I meant to uh, show myself to you under more civilized circumstances but… I kind of heard you singing and," he scratched the back of his neck and looked away and… is that, is that a purple blush I saw on his cheek? "And I showed myself to you… without even thinking. I just, never heard something so beautiful in all my years…"

I stared at him in shock, with wide eyes and a face that could rival the color of apples. "I, uhm, thank you, I… I think…"

That's when embarrassing memories of me singing flashed. Now that I thought about it… I was… I was…

I was describing him… in my song… When I thought I was imagining him but actually wasn't, I was actually picturing him… Jack Frost as my ideal man. And then, I remembered that kiss all over again, how it had been so quick and painful and cold and warm at the same time and… how in the heat of the moment, had Anna not intervened too quickly, how things could have turned out differently, had I not panicked and had I stayed frozen there atop him for a couple more seconds… what would have it been like? It was a curious thought that came out of nowhere, that sprung from the thoughts of an Elsa who momentarily let go of her cold and stern side and unleashed the hidden romantic within her… how I chose to dream like lovesick child for only a few minutes meaning to forget the black frost that just so rudely intruded into my life… in an attempt to fall in love with a dream, even for just a moment.

And the dream I assumed who was a dream was standing before me, the very personification of one riding on the moonlight… like a prince without a steed.

Now I felt more embarrassed than ever. In fact, it was humiliating! This isn't how queens are supposed to behave!

"I'm sorry!" I breathed. "I… I didn't mean, I…"

"No, no, it was fine!" Jack chuckled as he took a step towards me, surprising me yet again. "I mean, that, uh… that was my fault. I really didn't mean to pull you like that or anything."

"No, I panicked. It was my fault." I stuttered. "I should have just listened to you… I should have stayed calm… I should have."

"No, it was only natural. You did what humans normally do." He said. I was surprised to find him standing alarmingly closer right now. I raised my hands to my chest, feeling cautious all over again. He took a step back, sensing my alarm. "It's fine."

I turned my head to the side, avoiding his piercing blue gaze. "Can we just… forget about what happened and move on, please?"

He was silent a moment and then he began laughing. I stared at him, confused as to why he was behaving that way. He wore a carefree smirk as his laughter died down, with a playful twinkling in his eyes that made him look younger than his years.

"Okay…" he grinned. "You go on ahead and do that. But that was kind of like my first kiss. I can't possibly forget something as memorable as that."

I gaped at him. "That was … your first?"

He laughed again. "Yeah, sort of."

I blushed. "Well… I assumed, well… never mind! Please forget what I said…"

"Hey, you don't have to be that embarrassed about it… it was an accident."

I relaxed my shoulders and shook my head. "I'm sorry… It seems I just feel shaken with everything that happened today. Everything is… it's all a lot to take in…"

I gazed down the tiled floors of the balcony. I felt so tired. Even when I heard Jack taking slow easy steps towards me, I didn't feel the need to be cautious again. He was in front of me, towering above me and yet not a single air of hostility surrounded him. All I wanted to do was rest… maybe cry softly in a small corner of my room and let fear take over for a moment… let go…

"Look… I know everything seems so crazy right now." he said, his voice barely a whisper. "And to be honest, I'm breaking a helluva lot of rules just by being here… but I think I can help you better this way… and my world and this world are both in danger because of Pitch and his nightmares." He took another step closer. "I came to see you, Queen Elsa. I came to help you beat Pitch Black."

Pitch Black? He must be referring to the sorcerer I battled before. "H-how? How can I fight a power I don't understand?" I felt myself shiver a bit, and it had nothing to do with the night air. I looked at my hands, both shaking and slowly being covered by swirls of frost. "How can you expect me to fight a force I don't even understand? How can I fight something… stronger than me?"

I shuddered, remembering how the Nightmare King canceled out my own powers… how he saw my fear through his eyes… How he knew something about me that I didn't… I don't even understand it yet but…

_What would you want from me?_

"We can beat him." Jack said with fiery determination. "Believe in me."

That moment when I looked up at Jack Frost, I believed. I don't even know nor do I understand what our meeting tonight meant. Though I struggled to connect the dots with everything that happened that moment, I found myself trusting him even more, little by little. I needed his help… I needed the guardians' help. And worrying about a measly kiss won't solve my problems… Now was a time to act.

For the safety of Arendelle… for the safety of Anna…

"It seems… we got off on the wrong foot. Can we start over then, your highness?" he smiled, extending a hand towards me.

I sighed. "Only if… only if you promise to tell me everything you know about the situation…"

"Okay," he answered, hand still held out towards me.

I stared at his hand, then shook it… and found it surprisingly warm against my palm.

"Jack Frost. Guardian of Fun, Spirit of Winter. From way into the future." He grinned.

I giggled. "Queen Elsa of Arendelle."

I stared up at him blankly for a moment, and then smiled warily. No matter how less I knew about Jack Frost, there was no other way to it. In spite of everything that happened tonight… I have no other choice but to place my trust in him, no matter how obscure the events had turned out to be.

"I'd like to discuss things with you at once, but I'm afraid this is not the right place to be holding a proper meeting." I told him. "Perhaps my office would provide a better place to discuss everything?"

He hesitated. "I uh… I'm not supposed to be seen by anyone."

"It's alright." I assured him. "It's getting late anyway…. No one will notice you're here. And I can tell Anna to keep silent about our meeting."

He nodded. "Thanks." He paused, then looked at me with a sly grin. "Afraid that people would know about our secret affair, eh?"

I glared at him. "Don't even go there Frost."

He chuckled, rolling his eyes playfully. "Icy."

I turned around, heading towards the door hoping he'd follow me. "You can pick up your staff now…"

"Already did." He said. I turned and found the pieces of wood already merged into one in his hand. He drifted afloat about a meter from the ground as he peered curiously at me from where he flew. The sight of him still amazed me. I would never get used to how ethereal he seemed to be against the moonlight. When I pictured a man whom I found ideal, I always thought he'd be someone like the nature of winter Someone who was both beautiful and unpredictable. And Jack was exactly like that, like he was winter itself. He just looked… too good to be true. It was like he was the whole winter season made to look human. The beauty of my ice powers paled to all he was in comparison… at least, to me that is. If I was being honest with myself, I knew I found him physically attractive. He seemed young and charismatic in a way, fitting everything I thought was attractive in a man.

I turned away, embarrassed at my own thoughts. I admit I find him good looking… but it would never be more than that. Romance is the least of my priorities right now. Now is not the time to be like Anna…

"Can I ask you something Jack?"

"Yeah?"

"What did you mean when you said your heart was frozen forever?"

He paused. A few seconds passed and I thought I wasn't going to get my answer... until...

"I was dead."

...

"Now how does this exactly work, mate?"

The Guardians of Childhood were debating amongst themselves about the absurdity of going in disguise as mortal beings. For one, they have been used to being invisible to the unbelieving eye, and second, Father Time never warned about the possibilities of a paradox. But North believed that it was necessary. In fact he insisted it upon them all to stay as hidden as possible, confident that their presence in this timeframe was not to the Boogey Man's knowledge, making it a valuable ace up their sleeves.

Over and over, North recited the prophecy in his mind. Unknown to Tooth and Bunny, the other two immortals who were appointed earlier as guardians knew much, much more to the prophecy than what North cared to admit to them. The rotund man didn't even realize it just yet, but he knew that somehow the prophecy heavily noted Jack's and Elsa's role to the whole conundrum.

He had a bad feeling though…. He had a bad feeling that should the two come together, bad things would happen. In spite of the Timekeeper's order… in spite of the possible ally that the Snow Queen could be to them… North had this strange inkling of a certainty that bad things are yet to come ever since he knew that this Elsa was not the woman in Hickory's vision.

Because when the jolly old man had finally caught a clear glimpse of her back at the Valley of Rocks, he felt a sick lump in the pit of his gut telling him that he recognized that face in a horrifying photograph many, many, many years ago…

A woman, with black hair and electric blue yes. Dead.

North knew the face bore shockingly strong resemblances with _her._

He felt it. In his belly.

The guardians had already begun on their way up the North Mountain. Grand Pabbie had been perpetually reminding them to be very careful, sensing that the knowledge of their being here would cause problems worse than the appearance of an enemy fron the future. The guardians understood this, and at the same time didn't... but found themselves agreeing with the plan nonetheless.

They fondled with their queer gifts from the trolls, curious as to how they would appear to be as human. Of course it was no problem for the Sandman and North, but the Tooth Fairy and Easter Bunny's thoughts wanted their thoughts about playing human sated.

"I think we just have to wear it and see what happens." Tooth answered Bunny as she wore the pendant around her. At first, nothing seemed to happen, the guardians shaling their heads at Tooth's unspoken question of 'then what?'. Suddenly, a gentle stream of light engulfed her whole frame, slowly transforming her feathery features into that of a green summer dress. A tumble of short, spiky green hair framed her face, with the subtle changes making her look more and less herself...

"Woah..." Bunnymund breathed. "Tooth you look..."

"Human..." North finished for him in amazement.

Sandy did the same, transforming into a short stout golden blonde man with chocolate eyes and a yellow pinstripe suite as a pure yellow light washed over him,. North looked pretty much the same as he changed into the same big rotund Russian that he was... except his hair had turned into a dark brown color flaked with white strands.

Bunnymund seemed too reluctant in wearing the thing... but he had no choice. He couldn't risk the chances of being seen in that timeline, so he complied with the plan. With bated breath, the guardians watched as a green light wrapped him gingerly like a soft ghostly embrace. Soon, a buff man with fierce green eyes and dark grey sideburns wearing grey flower patterned leather replaced the patron of Easter who once stood before them, making their jaws slam open wide in sheer awe and shock.

"What?! Do I look bad mate?!" Bunny asked. The guardians took note that the new Bunny retained the old one's two buck teeth.

"You look..." Tooth murmured, talling her finger against her chin uncertainly.

"You look like a buck-tooth Wolverine lad!" North laughed, with Sandy shrugging apologetically beside him.

"Tch!" Bunnymund said, looking away. "At least I don't look old."

North narrowed his eyes at him, but ignored him anyway. After that, they maintianed their quiet tread through the forests, the birch trees peering eerily at them as they passed one area to another. Crossing over a stream, they gazed upon the enchanting pale wax light of the moon, seeming to hover over a wooden shack with a chimney fire smoking from the distance. They quickened her steps hastily and cautiously, eager to find shelter in the gradually darkening evening and knowing full well that being in the darkness too long with the boogie man on the loose was a situation to frightening to be in.

Sandy squinted his eyes then turned to his companions, spelling a couple of words written in cursive sand abovehead.

"Wandering Oaken's Trading Post... and Sauna?" Tooth read.

"Ooh! I would want a li'l sauna dip meself!" Bunny groaned. "These human feet are killing me! Seriously?! How'd ya fellas walk with these?!"

Tooth rolled her eyes, "Stop being such a drama queen Bunny... At least you're not the one who's wearing heels. Ugh... I really wish I still had my wings..."

"We make sacrifice for Man in Moon. Deal with it!' North chuckled. Amongst all of them, North had no problems with being human since he used to be one too... Unlike Tooth who always had been a fairy, or Bunny who was a Pooka, or even Sandman who actually... came from outerspace (sort of), North knew what it was like to be human. That was why he easily emphathized with Jack when he met him, knowing the pain and ache immortality brought to someone who was originally meant to be limited.

He paused, eyes half mast as his mind traveled back to memories from before. His earlier days as a guardian, with a newly recruited Tooth and Bunny, and a slightly more talkative Sandman (if one or two words counted)... and of course, his best friend, whom he treated like his very own sister.

_Nightlight... I hope you're taking good care of our Katherine._

...

A/N: Now guys... before you sever my head, please I plead with you to understand why I delayed. I still mean it when I say I will update. There may be delays, and I will always give notes on when I might not be able to update.

I pray that I'd be able to update soon next week. But the thing is, we have to start with the data gathering procedure for our thesis next week.

Take heart though. I promise to update regularly. And I already have the plot for this story planned out in a mental outline. Will it be lengthy? Yes. Will it take another month to update? NO. There might be delays... but it won't take more than two weeks. Scouts honor...

You write fan fics too right? I'm sure you understand my predicament.


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